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• .1
OVID'S
METAMORPHOSES
TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN,
■Y
DR. GARTH, AND OTHERS.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
Printed at ttje dtmt&ope $re#,
BY WUITTINCHAM AND ROWLAND,
GotwtU Street }
PUBLISHED BY SUTTABY, EVANCE, AND FOX, STATIONERS
COURT, LUDGATE STREET; SHARPE AND HAILES, PICCA
DILLY; AND TAYLOR AND HESSEY, FLEET STREET.
1812.
CONTENTS.
PftKFACE „ 5
BOOK I.
MR. DRYDEJtf.
'The Creation of the World „ „ 44
The Golden Age 46
The Silver Age 47
The Brazen Age , 48
The Iron Age i».
The Giants1 War 49
The Transformation of Daphne into a Laurel 61
The Transformation of 16 into a Heifer • 66
The Eyes of Argus transrorm'd into a Peacock's
Train ..,., 71
The Transformation of Syrinx into Reeds .... 72
BOOR II.
MR. ADDISON.
The Story of Phaeton 77
Phaeton's Sister transformed into Trees 88
The Transformation of Cycnus into a Swan.- 90
The Story of Calisto 92
The Story of Coronis, and Birth of jEsrulapius 97
Ocyrrhoe transformed to a Mare 101
The Transformation of Battns to a Touchstone 103
The Story of Aglanros, transformed into a
Statue t04
Europa's Rape 109
BOOK III.
MR. ADDISON.
The Story of Cadmus 112
The Transformation of Actseon into a Stag ... 118
M l*i
PREFACE.
Tq* method I propose in writing this Preface,
it to take notice of some of the beauties of. the
Metamorphoses, and also of the molts and parti-
cular affectations. After which I shall proceed
to bint at some rules for translation in. general;
and shall give a short account of the following
version.
. I shaU not pretend to impose my opinion o«
others with the magisterial authority of a critic ;
bat only take the liberty of discovering my own
taste. I shall endeavour to show our poet's re*
dundance of wit, justness of comparisons, ele-
gance of descriptions, and peculiar delicacy in
touching every circumstance relating to the pas-
sions and affections ; and with the same impartia-
lity and frankness, I shall confess the too frequent
puerilities of his luxuriant fancy, and the too
great negligence of his sometimes unlaboured
versification.
I am not of an opinion, too common to trans-
lators, to tlunk that one is under an obligation to
extol every thing be finds in the author he under-
takes : I am sure one is no more obliged to do
to, than a painter, is to make every face, that sits.
U> him, handsome. It is enough if he sets the
vol. I. b
6 PREFACE.
best features he finds in their full and most ad-
vantageous light. But if the poet has private
deformities, though good-breeding will not allow
to expose him naked, yet surely there can be no
reason to recommend him as the' most finished
model of harmony and proportion.
Whoever has this nndistinguishing complai-
sance, will not fail to vitiate the taste of the rea-
ders ; and misguide many of them in their judg-
ment, where to approve, and where to censure.
It must be granted, that where there appears
an infinite variety of inimitable excellencies, it
would be too harsh and disingenuous to be severe
on such faults, as have escaped rather through
want of leisure and opportunity to correct, than
through the erroneous turn of a depraved judg-
ment. How sensible Ovid himself was of the un-
correctness of the Metamorphoses appears from
these lines,- prefixed before some of the editions by
the care of his commentators.
Orba parent* suo quicunque vohynina tang is f
His saltern vestra detur in urbt locus.
Quoque magis foveas; rum sunt hoc edita ab IUo,
Sed quasi dt domunifunert rapta sui.
Quicquid in his igitur vitii rude carmen habebit
Mmtndaturus, ri Ucuissct, erat. Trist. El. vi.
Since therefore the readers arc not solemnly
invited to an entertainment, but come acciden-
tally, they ought to be contented with what they
find. And pray what have they to complain of,
bnt too great variety? where, though some of the
dishes be not served in the exactest order and
politeness, bnt hashed up in haste, there are a
PREFACE. 7
t
great many accommodated to .every particnrar
palate.
To like every thing, shows too little delicacy ;
and to like nothing, too much difficulty. So great
is the variety of this poem, that the reader who
is never pleased, will appear as monstrous as he
that is always so. Here are the- harries of battles
for the hero, tender emotions of soul for the lover,
a search and penetration into nature for the phi-
losopher; fluency of numbers, and most expres-
sive figures for the poet; morals for the serious,
and pleasantries for admirers of points of wit
It is certain a poet is more to be suspected for
saying too much than too little. To add is often
hazardous; but to retrench, commonly judicious.
If our author, instead of saying all he could, had
only said all he should, Daphne had done well to
fly from the god of wit, in order to crown his
poet : thus Ovid bad been more honoured in his
exile than Augustus in his triumphs.
I shall now attempt to give some instances of
the happiness, and vast extent, of our author's
imagination. I shall not proceed according to
the order of the poem, but rather transcribe some
lines here and there, as my reflection shall sug-
gest.
Nee circuntfitso pendebat in acre ttllui
Ponderibtu librata suis
Thus was the state of nature before the crea-
tion : and here it is obvious, that Ovid bad a dis-
cerning notion of the gravitation of bodies. It
is now demonstrated, that every part of matter
tends to every part of matter with a force, which
8 PREFACE.
is always in a direct simple proportion of the
quantity of the matter, and an inverse duplicate
proportion of the distance, which tendency or
.gravitating is constant and universal. This power,
whatever it be, acting always proportionally to
the solid content of bodies, and never in any pro-
portion to their superficies, cannot be explained
by any material Impulse. For the Jaws of im-
pulse are physically necessary: there can be no
a,vri£va>or, or * arbitrary principle,' in mere mat-
ter ; its parts cannot move, unless they be moved;
and cannot do otherwise, when pressed on by
other parts in motion ; and therefore it is evident
from the following lines, that Ovid strictly ad-
hered to the .opinion of the most discerning philo-
sophers, who taught that all things were formed
by a wise and intelligent mind.
Jusmt et extendi compos, tubridert valla,
Fronde Ugi .sytoat>
The fiat of the Hebrew lawgiver is not more
sublime than the jussit of the Latin poet, who
goes on in the same elevated and philosophical
style :
Hv ft4>cr impotuU liqtddum ct gravitate car entem
JEthera
Here the author spreads a thin veil of ether
over his infant creation ; and though his asserting
the upper region to be void of gravitation may
not, in a mathematical rigour, be true, yet it is
.found from the natural inquiries made since, (and
especially from the learned Dr. Halley's Discourse
on the Barometer) that if, on the surface of the
PBSfrAC*. 9
earth, an nadi of quicksilver in the tube be equal
to a cylinder of air of 300 foot, it will be at a
mile's height equal to a cylinder of air of 2,700,000 ;
and therefore the air at so great a distance from
the earth must be rarified to so great a degree,
that the space it fills must bear a very small pro-
portion to that which is entirely void of matter.
I mink we may be confident from what already
appears, as well as from what our author has writ
on the $oman feasts, that he could not be totally
ignorant of astronomy. Some of the critics would
insinuate from the following lines, that he mistook
the annual motion of the sun for the diurnal,
Sectut in dbtiqunm Met. B. ii.
Though the sun be always in one or other of
the signs of the zodiac, and never goes by either
motion more northward or southward than is here
described, yet Phaeton, being designed to drive
the chariot but one day, ought to have been di-
rected in the equator, or a circle parallel to it,
and not round the other oblique one of the eclip-
tic : a degree of which, and mat by a motion con-
trary to the diurnal, he was obliged to go in that
length of time.
I am inclined to think, that Ovid had so great
an attention to poetical embellishments, that be
voluntarily declined a strict observance of any
astronomical system. For though that science
was far from being neglected' in former ages', yet
the progress which was made in it by no means
equalled that of our present time.
Lucretius, though in other things most pene-
10 PREFACE.
trating, describes the son scarce bigger than he
appears to the eye :
Nee nimio soli* major rota, nee minor ardor
Esse potest, nottris quam sensibus ease videtur.
And Homer, imagining the seats of the gods
above the fixed stars, represents the falling of
Vnlcan from thence to the isle of Lemnos, to con-
tinue during a whole day :
K&rrftv iv Mfxr* II. Lib. i.
The Greek poet aims here to give a surprising
idea of the height of the celestial mansions ; but
if the computation of a modern astronomer be
true, they are at so much a greater distance, that
Vulcan would have been more years in falling
than he was minntes.
But lest I should exceed the usual length of a
preface, I shall now give some instances of the
propriety of our author's similes and epithets,
the perspicuity of his allegories, the instructive
excellence of the morals, the peculiar happy turn
of his fancy, and shall begin with the elegance of
Ins descriptions :
Mtdidis Nbtu* evolat alia,
Terribiicm picca tectus caliginc vultum.
Barba gravis nimbis,canis fit/it unda capillis,
FronU aedent nebula, rorant peitvecque, sinusque.
8temuntur segetes, et dtplorata coloni
VotajaccrU, longique labor perit irritus mud.
PREFACE. 11
These lines introduce those of the Deluge,
which are also very poetical, and worthy to be
compared with the next, concerning the golden
age :
■■ ■ Sine militia usu'
Mollia secure peragebant otia gfntea.
Jpsa quoque immunia reuiroque intacta, nee ulRa
Saucia vomeribua, per sedabat omnia teiius. .
Contentique cibis, nullo cogente, creatis,
Arbutemfatus, montanaquefraga Ugebant,
Et que deciderant patula Jovit arbore glanda,
Ver erat sternum, ptacidique tepentibw auria
Mulcebant Zephyri natos sine aemint floret.
Virgil has also touched upon the same subject
in the end of the second Georgic :
Aureus hone vitam in tenia Soturnus agebat,
Nee dum etiam audierttnt ivflari classica, nee dum
ImpotUoe duria crepUare incudibus enses.
And again :
Primua ab atkereo venit Saturnus Olympo
Aurea, qua perhibent, iUo sub regefuerunt
Smcula : sic placida popuios in pace regebat.
JEm. B. viii. 1. 319.
Some of the lines, a little foreign to the present
subject, are omitted; but I shall make tbe most
admirable author amends by transcribing at length
his next description. It is of a stag, which gave,
the first occasion to the war betwixt tbe Trojans
and the Rutulians. . I choose this, because my de-
sign is to have these two great poets seen toge-
ther, where the subject happens to be almost the
same, though the nature of the poems be very dif-
ferent :
12 PREFACE.
Cervus erat forma prastanti, et cornibta ingots,
Tyrrheid* pueri, quern matrix ab ubere raptum
Nutribant, Tyrrheusque pater, cui rcgia parent
Armenia, et late cuttodia credita campi.
Amietum imperii* sorer omvi Sylvia cura
MolUbui intexens ornabat cornua sertis :
Pectebatquc ferum, puroque in f mitt tavabat.
IUe manual patient, mensaquc asvuetus herili
Errabat syMs — — JEa. B. vii. 1. 483.
The image which Ovid gives of the favourite
stag, slain accidentally by Cyparissus, seems not
of less dignity :
Jngens cervtts erat, lateque patentibus altos
Ipso suo capiti prabebat comibus umbras;
Cornua fulgebant auro, demissaque in armoi
Pcndebant tereti gemmata monitia oollo.
Bulla super /ronton parvis argcntca loris
Vincta movebatur: pariUque ex are nUebant
Auribut in geminis circum cava tempora bacca.
Isque metu vacuus naturalique pavore
DeposUo, celebrare domes, mulcendaque colla
QuamUbet ignotis manibus prabere solebat,
Gratus erat, Cyparisse, tibi. Tu pabula cervum
Ad nova, tu liquidi ducebasjbntis ad undam.
Tu modo texebas varios per cornua fiores :
Nunc, eques in tergo residens, hue latus et illuc
Mollia purpurcisfrenabas ora capistris.
In the following lines, Ovid describes the watry
court of the river Peneos, which the reader may
compare with Virgil's subterranean grot of Cyrene
the Naiad, mother to Aristsens :
Est nanus Hamonie, prmrupta quod undique claudU
SUva; vocant Tanpc; per qua. Pentus ab imo
EJfusus Pindo spumosU vohoVkur undis:
Dejectuquc gravi tenues agUantiafumos
PREFACK. i$
Nubila conducit, summasque aspergine sutva*
Jmpluit ; et sonitu plus quant vicina fatigat.
Htec domus, fuec teda, hoc sunt penetralia magrd
Amms : in hoc resident facto de cautious antra,
Undisjura dabat, Nymphuque colentibus undas.
Conveniunt iltuc popularia flumina primum;
Nescia gratentur, consoUnturvc parentem,
Popultfer Spercheos, et irrequietus Enipeus,
Apidanusque senex, lenisque Amphryws, et Mas;
Moxque amnes alii, qui, qua tulit impetus iUos,
In mare deducuntfessas erroribus undas.
MetB.L
Tristii Aristaus Penei genitoris ad undam
Stat lacrytnans
Jamque domum nnrans genetricis, ct humida regno,
Spetuncisque locus clausos, htcosqut sonantes,
lbat ; et ingenti motu stupef actus aquarum,
Omnia sub magna labcntiaflumine terra
Spectabat drversa locis, Phasimque, Lycumque,
Et caput, xtnde alius primum se erumpit Enipeus,
Vnde pater Tiberhnu, et unde Aniena fiuenta,
Et gemma auratus taurino eornua xmltu
Eridanus; quo non alius per pinguia culta
In mare purpureum viclentior irtfiuit amnis.
Georg. B. hr.
The divine poet goes on in pomp of numbers,
and easy magnificence of words, till he introduces
the story of Orpheus and Eurydice ; in the narra-
tion of which he is as much superior to Ovid,
as the reeds of his own Mantuan shepherds are
less musical than the lyre of Orpheus.
That I may not be too long on this article, I
shall recommend to the reader, Ovid's admirable
description of sleep :
Est prope Cimmerios — Met. B. si.
That of hunger :
Est Ucm extremis SeytM* B. rift.
14 PREFACE.
That of the plague :
Dira lues B. vli.
That of fame :
^— Orbe locus medio est B. xii.
Virgil has also touched on the two last ; in the
one he had Lucretius in view; in the other Homer :
and I think it will not be to the disadvantage of
our author to appear at the same time.
There are many other descriptions scattered in
the Metamorphoses, which for jnst expression of
nature, and majestic modulation of words, are only
inferior to those already transcribed, as they are
shorter; which makes the objection, that his dic-
tion is commonly loitering into prose, a great deal
too severe.
The Metamorphoses most be considered (as is
observed before) very uncorrect, and Virgil's
works as finished ; though his own modesty would
not allow the JEneids to be so. It seems it was
harder for him to please himself than his readers.
Mis judgment was certainly great, nor was his
vivacity of imagination less ; for the first without
the last is too heavy, and like a dress without
fancy; and the last without the first is too gay,
and but all trimming*
Our author's similitudes are next to be consi-
dered; which are always remarkably short, and
convey some pleasing idea to the imagination.
It is in this branch of the poem, that he has dis-
covered as just a judgment as any of the classics
whatever. Poets, to give a loose to a warm fancy,
are generally too apt, not only to expatiate in their
simijies, but introduce them too frequently; by
- 1
PREFACE. 15
doing the first, they detain the attention too long
from the principal narration; and by the latter,
they make too frequent breaches in the unity of
the poem.
These two errors Ovid has most discerningly
avoided. How short and significant are generally
Ms comparisons ! He fails not in these to keep a
stiff rein on a high-mettled Pegasos ; and takes'
care not to surfeit here, as he had done on other
heads, by an erroneous abundance.
His similies are thicker sown by much in the
fable of Salmacis and Hermaphrodilus, than in any
other book ; but always short.
The nymph clasps the youth close to her breast,
and both insensibly grow one :
Velut si quis conducto cortlce ramos
Crescendo jvngl, pariterque adolescere ceniat.
Met. B. ir.
Again, as Atalanta reddens in the race with
Hippomenes :
Inque puellari corpus candore ruborem
Traxerat .- hand aliter qttam cum super atria vektm
Candida purpureum simulates mficU umbras.
Met. B. x.
Philomela's tongue seemed to move, after it wan
cut out by Tereus :
Utque satire solet mutUata cauda eolubra,
Palpitat ■ . Met. B. vi.
Cadmus sows the dragon's teeth, and the sons
of the earth rise gradually :
Jade, fide majus, glebe capere moveri;
Prtmaque de sulci* acies apparuit hast* ;
Tegmtna max capitum picto nutantia com i
16 PREFACE.
Max humeri, pectusque
Stc,ubitoUunturfestis aulaa tkeatris
Surgcre signa solent ; primumque oslendere vultum ;
Cater a paulatim, placidoque educta tenore
Tota patents unoque pedes in margine ponunt.
Met. B. iil.
The objection to Ovid, that he never knows
when to give over, is too manifest. Though be
frequently expatiates on the same thought, in dif-
ferent words ; yet in his similies that exuberance
is avoided. There is in them all a simplicity, and
a confinement to the present object; always a
fecundity of fancy, but rarely an intemperance :
nor do I remember he has erred above once by an
ill-judged superfluity. After be has described the
labyrinth built by Daedalus, he compares it thus :
Non secus ae liquidus PhrygUs Maandros in arvis
Ludit, et ombiguo lapsu refluitque, Jluitque ;
Et nunc ad /antes, nunc ad mare versus apertum
Incertas exercet aquas Met B. viti.
He should have ended at the close of the second
line, as Virgil should have done at the end of the
fourth, in his noble simile where Dido proceeds
to the temple with her court about her :
Qualis in Eurotcc ripU% out perjuga Cynthi
Exercet Diana chores, quam milie teeuta
Sine, atque hinc glomerantur Oreadts, ilia pharctram
Fert humero, gradiensque Deas supereminet omnes:
Lcttonce. taciturn pertentant gaudia pectus. Rjh. B. iv.
I see no reason for the last line. Though the
poet be justly celebrated for a most consummate
judgment, yet by an endeavour to imitate Homer's
similies, he is not only very long, but, by introduc-
ing several circumstances, Me fails of an applicable
relation Irtwixt tb* Dcsariual snhiBct and Mt near
ideae. Hesojntflnyn few** ft fr wort tote fl»
ptee* jetne ^tfforwg en^roKlery, saMch, though
▼cry rich, jet makes at beat tat jbrieae matfeb-
work; 1 *eufy believe trie exeeffcnt poaai had
not been the teas so, i£ in this article, jhe had
thiMMfht lit to hatf walkitd .on io his .nana ■**— !■■'
aatf enjjfiestic grace, tatter than have been honied
.frtavarj jfemmajk tafcen J>y-a*ys by Ma b**d
I aball imacribe one 4f Iris sinuuea. wkielijsnoi
colled oatyimt exactly of the same texture with
mil the rett In the fear test books of the JEneids.
T^ptkaj^in^fram^.ciiaqot;
PnhtHtOxpt fmttft tQtvit iif t&apta TttHtttst,
Jta.*.a*.!<
It does not seem to be at all materia), wjhetber
the rock was blown or washed down by wind or
rainy' or undei'wned'by time*
But to return to Ovid; the reader may take
notice how unforced bis compliments, and bow
natural bjjs transitions generally are. Witfe jpw
much ease fcasipP >Hae |ato .some new circum-
stance, without f6y vjotetion of the miity of the
story! The texture jb so artfid, that it may be com-
pared to the work of his own Arachne; where the
shade dies so gradually, and the light revives so
nnn^t^centiWy, tfeat it is hard to jtejlwbere g* one
ccaisf, asjd «a jQtistr begins*
w?mi» is going osTjrea aaasts*y of.Aaollo
MtlFACE.
and Daphne, how happily doe* he introduce
'- ■ "o the Roman conquerors !
— Etamfiuq*
He compliments Augustus upon the aisifjnatii
of Julius; and, by way of simile, takes the oppi
tunity from the horror that the barbarity of Lyca.
fa»e:
Jolius is deified, and looka down on his adopt
. Naliqta tidau bene/acta, faletur
KtK nri* mqjora, et liict gaudct ab itio. Met 6- it
And immediately follows,
Bic sua praftrrtqvanqvam sttot acta potcmiij
Libera J rtma tamcn, ritd tuque obnoxia juatit
The author, in the two first lines, shows t
affectionate condescension of the father ; in t
three last, the pious gratitude of the son.
The complimenti to Augusta* are very frequt
«•> the hist book of the HetankaVphosea ; as the
** Ate same emperor an in me Georgics of Virf
which also strike the imagination by their agret
*** flattery :
]o, netnrijtu wABita
PREFACE. 19
Again on Julias :
• Imperium Oceano,famam qui tertninct astrU
Juliut AEa. B. t
The compliments have a great sublimity, and
are worthy of the grandeur of the heroes, and the
wit of the poet.
Ovid as much deserves praise for saying a great
deal in a little, as censure for saying a little in a
great deal. None of the classic poets had the
talent of expressing himself with more force and
perspicuity.
Phaeton desires some pledge of his father's ten*
rlerness, and asks to be trusted with his chariot
He answers:
Pignora certa petit ; do pignora carta timendo.
Met. B.H.
However, ttie latter complies with his importu-
lity j the consequence is fatal, the world is set on
ire ; even the rivers feel the force of the confla-
gration. The Tagus boils,
Fluit tgnibus aurum.
The Nile retreats,
Occuluitquc caput , quod adkuc latet ■ ■
Xanthns is parched up,
Artunuque itntm Xanthta — —
The poefs fancy is here full of energy, as
*ell as in the following lines. Apollo courts
Daphne, and promises himself success, but is dit-
ippointed :
Quodquc cupit, tptrat ; tuaqutiUam OraculafaUunt,
. And again, the river Acbetous combats Hercules,
- \
SO PREFACE.
and assumes several shapes in vain, then puts on it
last that of a snake ; the hero smiles in contempt:
Cunantm labor at angua superare nuarum.
Ovid never excels liimself so much, as when he
take* occasion to touch upon the passion of love;
all hearts are in a manner sensible of the same
emotions ; and, like instruments tuned unisons, if
a string of any one of them be struck, the rest bf
consent vibrate.
Procris is jealous of Cepbalus ; she endeavona
to be confirmed in her fears, but hopes the con*
trary:
Sjpertdquc mucrrimafalU.
The next is not less natural :
— — — Sed cuncta timerruu cunanUt.
Byblis is in love with Caunus. Hie struggle is
betwixt her unlawful flame and her honour.
She is all confusion at the thoughts of discovering
her passion :
■ miserere Jatcntii ainoTttn*
She attempts to write :
Incipit tt dubitat: scribU,da>rtnatgtietabeUaa,
Et notat, et delet : tnutat, culpatgue, probmtqtu.
In the end, inclination (as it does always) gets
the better of discretion.
This last fable shows how toechingly the poet
argues in love-affairs, as well as those of Medea
and Scylla. The two last are left by their heroes,
and their reflections are very natural and affecting.
Ovid seemed here to have had Virgil's passion or
Dido in his eye, but with this difference ; the one
(artcanverjad aunch with ladies, and knew they
pktrAcB. 21
le'ved to talk a great deal : the other considered no
less, what was natural for them to say, than what
became them to say.
Virgil has, through the whole management of
this rencounter, discovered a most finished judg-
ment. JEneas, like other men, likes for con-
venience; and leaves lor greater. Dido, like other
ladies, resents the neglect, enumerates the obliga-
tions, the lover is under, upbraids him with ingrati-
tude, threatens him with revenge; then by and by
submits, begs for compassion, and has recourse
to tears.
It appears from this piece, that Virgil was a de-
cerning master in the passion of love ; and they
that consider the spirit and turn of that inimita-
ble line,
Qui Barium non adit • ■ ■
cannot doubt but he had an equal talent for satire.
Nor does the genius of Ovid more exert on the
subject of love than on all others. In the con-
tention of Ajax, Ulysses's elocution is most nervous
and persuading. Where he endeavours to dissuade
mankind from indulging carnivorous appetites in
his Pythagorean philosophy, how emphatical is his
reasoning!
Quid mcruert botes, animal sinefraudt, doUsque,
Innocuum, simplex* nation tolerart laborts ?
bnmtmor est demum, necfrugum muneredignus.
Qui potuU curd dempto modo pondtre uratri,
Ruricolam mactare suum — -— Mel. B. zv.
I think Agricolam had been stronger; but the
authority of manuscripts does not warrant that
emendation.
Through the whole texture of this work, Ovid
VOL.1. c
2* PREFACE.
discovers the highest humanity, and a most exceed*
ing good nature. The virtuous in distress are
always his concern; and his wit contrives to give
thern an immortality with himself.
He seems to have taken the most pains in the
first and second book of the Metamorphoses,
though the thirteenth abounds with sentiments
most moving, and with calamitous incidents intro-
duced with great art. The poet had here in view
the tragedy of Hecuba in Euripides ; and it is a
wonder it has never been attempted in our own
tongue. The house of Priam is destroyed, hi*
royal daughter a sacrifice to the manes of him that
occasioned it. She is forced from the arms of her.
unhappy friends, and hurried to the altar ; where
she behaves herself with a decency becoming her
sex, and a magnanimity equal to her blood, and so
very affecting that even the priest wept.
■ Ipse etiamflens, invUuvjue sacerdos, ice.
She shows no concern at approaching death,
but on the account of her old, unfortunate mother :
Mors tantvm vcUem matrtm meafmUere possit.
Mater obest, minuitque necis men gaudia ; quamcis
Non mea mora illi, vtrwn sua vita gemenda est.
Then begs her body may be delivered to her
without ransom :
• Genetrici corpus inemptum
JUddite i neve, auro redimatjus tritte scpulchri,
Sed lacrymis : tunc, cumpoterat, redimebut et auro.
The unhappy queen laments she is not able to
give her daughter royal burial : ,
Non tuec tstfortuna domus —
PftBFACS.
Then takes the body in ber decrepit arms, wad
halts to the sea to wash off the blood :
• Ad Uttus pastu procemt aniti,
Albertta laniata comas.
The animated thoughts and lively images of
this poem are numerous. None ever painted mora
to the life than oar anthor, though several gro-
tesque figures are now and then seen in the saint
group. The most plentiful season that gives
birth to the finest flowers, produces also the-
rankest weeds. Ovid has shown in one line the-
brightest fancy sometimes, and in the next tao
poorest affectation.
Venus makes court to Adorns :
Eteccef
V
■ Opporturta tua bUmditur Popuhu umbra;
Et trqtaevit humo ; presntque ctgramtn et ipmm.
MetB. x.Lttff.
Phoebus requests Phaeton to desist from bis re-
quest:
- ■ ■ ■ Consiliis, rum currUna utere mxCrit.
Cseneus, in the battle of the Centaurs, wounds
Latreus in several places :
■ ■ - VtUnusquc in vulnercftcit.
These are some of our poet's boyisms. There is-
another affectation, called by Quintilian 'OfJ/za^or,.
or * a witty folly;' which would not nave appeared
quite so trifling, had it been less frequent.
Medea persuades the daughters of Pehas to kill
their father, in order to have his youth renewed-
She that loves him best gives the first wound.
Et,ne sU scderata,facit mxUu M4. B. viL
24 PREFACE.
Althea is enraged at her son Mcleager, and, to
do justice to the manes of his brothers, destroys
him:
Impielate pia est »■•
Envy enters Athens, and beholds the flourishing
condition of the city :
Fixque tenet lacrymas, quia nil lacrymabUe cernit.
. Ovid was much too fond of sueh witticism*,
jvucii are more to be wondered at, because they
were not the fashion of that age, as puns and
qwbbles are of this. Virgil, as I remember, is
not found trifling in this manner above once or
twice :
Deucalion vacuum lapida Jactatit in orbem,
Vhde hominet ttati, durum genus—— Georg. B. i. I. 63.
Juno is in indignation at iEneas upon bis arrival
in Italy :
Nunh capti potuere capi 1 nutn incenta cremavit
Trqja vivos ? Mm. vii. I. 995.
The poet is so far from affecting this sort of
wit, that he rarely ventures on so spirited a turn
of fancy, as in these following instances.
Juno upbraids tenus and Copid,ironica%, that
two deities could be able to get the better of one
weak woman :
■ ■ Memorabilenomen,
Una ddo Divum, nftzmina victa duorum fit.
MB. B. IV. I. 05. '
Euryams, going upon* an enterprise, expresses
his concern fbt bis surviving rttfthef , if he should
fall, and recommends her to tn€ care of Ascantas ;
who answers,
Namqvrt trit ista miht gtrtUHi, hdmthqui Create
Solum defucri* >
PREFACE. 25
Venus is importunate in her solicitations to
Vulcan, to make armour for her son ; he answers,
■ Abriaie prccand*
Viribus indubitare tuU Sn. B. f .
At die first kindling of Dido's passion, lie has
this most natural thought :
— Ilhtm absent atocntem ei«titgve, xddttquc
But to return to Ovid ; though I cannot vindi-
cate him for his points, I shall endeavour to
mollify his critics, when they give him no quarter
for his diction, and attack him so inflexibly for
ending bis lines wish monosyllables, as — st outs, si
ttoii, Sec. and as I think he cannot be excused more
advantageously than by affirming, tint wfeere-ne
has done it once, Virgil has twenty times.
ctcum.
Ceo*, i.
nqwt.
Qeorg. il.
rtecdum.
siquam
Sft"-
nquu.
An.vil.
jam hot.
JGaxti.
nunc nuncr
-Jtc.
There are a great many endings of lines in this
manner, and more indeed than seems consistent
with the majesty of heroic verse. When lines
are designed to be sermoni propUres, this liberty
may be allowable, but not so when the subject
requires more sonorous numbers. Virgil seems to
endeavour to keep up his versification to an bar-
monious dignity ; and therefore, when fit words do
4>ot offer with some ease, be will rather break off
in an hemifttic, than that the line should be lazy and
languid* He well knew how essential it was in
poetry to flatter 4he .ear; and at the same tine
tO PREFACE.
was sensible, that this organ prows tired by a con-
stant attention to the same harmony ; and there*
fore he endeavoured now and then to relieve it by
a cadence of pauses, and a variation of measures:
AmpkUm Dirceus in Adtmo Aracxmtho. Ed. &
This line seems not tuneful at the first hearing;
but, by repetition, it reconciles itself, and has the
same effect with some compositions of mask,
which are at the first performance tiresome, and
afterward entertaining.
The commentators and critics are of opinion,
that whenever Virgil is less musical, it is where
he endeavours at an agreement of the sound with
the sense, as,
. Procumbit humi bos.
It would show as much singularity to deny this,
as it does a fanciful facility to affirm it; because
it is obvious in many places he had no such view.
— — Inventa sub ilidbus nts. ALn. IU. 1. 390.
— Dentesque. Sabellicus exacuit tut. Georg. lift. 1. 24$.
——Jam setts obsita, Jam bos. Xn. Til. 1. 191*
— — Furor additus, inde lupi ecu, &c. Mn. xi. 1. 356.
The places which favour most the first opinion
are:
Saxa per et scopulos, et depressas oonvaUes.
Geoff. W. I. «S.
■ 8ape criguui rrvus.
Omnia sub magna labentia flumina terra. Georg. if.
The last line is the only instance, I remember,
(except one in Ed. ii.) where the words terminals
in the same vowel, and seem to represent the cos-
#tant and uniform sound of a sliding stream.
Those that are most conversant in classic poetry,
most be sensible that Virgil has been much more
■ PREFACE. t?
solicitous than Ovid to keep np Iris lines to an
easy and a musical flow ; but though, the critics
charge the latter with breaking through prosody
and grammar, and allowing himself too often the
licence of Gnecisras, I take this- censure to be
only an arrogant pedantry in the grammarians, aid
groundless in itself; but though it were true, I
dare be confident it is full as just upon Virgil :
— Curru tutgungtre Tigrcs EcL v. L «9.
for currui, according to the grammarians.
Often adjectives for adverbs, and the contrary.
— Pinguiaculta Geoff. I
An adjective for a substantive.
— Dcnso distingnere pingui — —
The same.
Seu languentis Hyacinthi JEu. xl. 1. 09.
First foot of the dactyl short
— - - TultruntfaUidia mentcs—— £n. iv.
The penultima of the verb short.
Opstupui feteruntgue coma.
The same.
So Lucretius, prodiderunt, reciderunt, &c.
— Pampineo gravidas autumno. Geoff, ii. 1. 5.
An iambic for a spondee.
Ftuviorum rex Eridanus camposque per omnes.
An anapest for a dactyl, or a spondee.
Nee Clytio genitore minor necJYatrc Mnentheo.
JEu. x. 1. CO.
A trochee, unless the two consonants m n of the
following word be allowed.
£8 frRBFACI.
Fervtrt, non ilia quitquam-— Geoig. i. L 40t, I*
The penoltima commonly short with Virgil; * rJ
fulgere, stridere, ip. I1*
Sine me fttrerc ante furorem—— 4En.xii.LG60.
*<
Aoracum. i;
— — Lnponere Pelio Onam. Georg. 1. 1. CM-'
A Graecism where there is no elision, bat the long
yowel before another made short.
The learned and reverend Dr. Clarke has ob-
served, (as he tells me) that though there be several
short vowels made long in Homer, yet there is no
instance, on the contrary, of any long vowel (such
as the first syllable of rtjuu), ^vx*> >**«> and the
like) ever made short, where no vowel follows:
which- shows that there is no such thing as a poetic*
licentia, properly so called.
Certainly no body can imagine but these two
celebrated authors understood their own tongue
better than the scrupulous grammarians of after-
ages, who are too dogmatical and self-sufficient,
when they presume to censure either of them for
not attending strictly enough to syntax and the
measure of verse. The Latin tongue is a dead
language, and none can decide with confidence
on the harmony or dissonance of the numbers of
these times, unless they were thoroughly acquainted
with their pauses and cadence. They may indeed
pronounce with much. more assurance on their
diction; and distinguish where they have been
negligent, and where more finished. There are
certainly many lines in .Ovid where he has .been
PtVACC £9
downright buy, and where be might hare avoided
the appearance of being obviously so, by a very
little application. In recording the succession of
the Alban kings thus :
Epitus ex illo est, post nunc Capetusque, Copysquc,
. Std Capys antcfuit
There are also several lines in Virgil, which are
not altogether tunable to a modern ear, and which
appear nnrnnsneci •
Sdticet omnibus est labor impcndcndus, ct <
Cagendtt infulcum — Georg. tt. 1. 61.
Praertim si tempestas a vertict sylvis
JmcsOuU Geoff . H. 1. 310.
Quasvc reftrrt partm ? scd nunc, est omnia quando
hie animas supra JEa. xi. I. 309.
lata quidem quia nota mini tua, magne, voluntas,
Jupiter—— JEn. xK. 1. 108.
3«t the sun has its spots ; and if, amongst thou-
sands of inimitable lines, there should be some
found of an unequal dignity with the rest, nothing
can be said for their vindication more, than, if they
be faults, they are the faults of Virgil.
As I ought to be on this occasion an advocate
for Ovid, who I think is too much run down at
present by the critical spirit of this nation, I dare
say I cannot be more effectually so, than by com-
paring him in many places with his admired con-
temporary Virgil; and though the last certainly
deserves the palm, I shall make use of Ovid's own
lines, in the Irial of strength betwixt Acheloiis
and Hercules, to show how much he is honoured
by the contention.
50 PREFACE.
• Non tarn
Turpefu.it vinci, quam contendisse decoitun.
Met B. fat
I shall finish my remarks on our author, 1
taking notice of the justness and perspicuity
his allegories, which are either physical or natun
moral or historical. Of the first kind is the fat
of Apollo, or Python ; in the explanation of tl
all the niythologists agree; exhalations and mis
being the constant effects of inundations, are he
dissipated by the rays of the sun.
Of the second kind, are Actaeon torn to piet
by his own pack of dogs, and Erisicthon starv
by the disease of hunger. These two allegor
seem to signify, that extravagance and luxury e
in want.
Of the third, is the story of the rape of Euro]
History says she was daughter to Agenor, a
carried by the Candians in a galley, bearing a b
in the stern, in order to be married to one of th
kings, named Jupiter.
This explanation gives an occasion for a digr
.sion, which is not altogether foreign to the presi
purpose; because it will be of use to justify 0<
on some other occasions, where he is censured
being too free with the characters of the gods,
was once representing the Metamorphoses as
excellent system of morality ; but an illustri<
lady (whose least advantage above her sex, is fJ
of being one of the greatest princesses ■ in Euro]
1 This probably «u the Princess of Wales, consul
* George II. to whom Garth inscribed his version of Ovid
1717.
PRBFACI. 31
that the loose and immodest sallies of
d by no means confirm my assertion,
ist consider, that what appeared an ab-
O? id, is not so much his own fault as
te times before him. The characters of
of the old heroic age represented them
their actions, mutable in their designs,
their favours, ignorant of events, scur-
their language; some 'of the superior
treating one auother with injurious bra-
nd arc often guilty of such indecencies
»liaviour, as the lowest of mortals wonld
jwn. Juno calls Diana, the goddess of
Kvot *$$il$, brazenfaced bitch; Horn. II.
.481. Jupiter insults his daughter, the
if wisdom, for rashness and folly ; bids
er, he will maul her coach-horses for her,
rly bitch as site is ; cuvotcxtti kv'ov : II. B.
line 400 to line 425, then threatens in
lace to beat his wife, that divine vixen,
rtal partner of the empyreal throne, xau
Tif IfMxcra'U' II* B. xv. 1. 17.
minentators may endeavour to hide those
es uuder the veil of allegories ; but the
lat considers the whole texture of the
find, that the author's meaning, and their
ation, are often as unlike as the imaginary
•* bis time are to the real ones of ours,
iries should be obvious, and not like
in the air, which represent a different
> every different eye. Now they are
f soldiers ; now flocks of sheep ; and by
o thing.
ps the critics of a more exalted taste
32 PREPACK.
may discover such beauties in the ancient poetry,
as may escape the comprehension of us pigmies
of a more limited genius. They may be able to
fathom the divine sense of the pagan theology,
whilst we aim at no more than to judge of a little
common sense.
It is, and ever will be, a rule to a great many,
to applaud and condemn with the general vogue,
though never so ill grounded. The most are afraid
of being particular; and, rather than strive against
the stream, are proud of being in the wrong with
the many, rather than desirous of being in the
right with the few : and though they be convinced
of the reasonableness of dissenting from the com-
mon cry, yet, out of a poor fear of censure, they
contribute to establish it, and thus become an
authority against others, who in reality are but of
their own opinion.
Ovid was so tar from paying a blind deference
to the venerable name of his Grecian predecessor,
in the character of his gods, that when Jupiter
punishes Andromeda for the crimes of her mother,
he calls him ir\justus Ammon, (Met B. iv.) and
takes commonly an honourable care of the deco-
rum of the godhead, when their actions are con-
sistent with the divinity of their character. His
allegories include some religions or instructive
moral, wrapped up in a peculiar perspicuity. The
fable of Proserpina, being sometimes in hell and
sometimes with Ceres her mother, can scarce mean
any thing else than the sowing and coming op of
corn. The various dresses that Vertummis, the
god of seasons, puts on, in his courtship of Pomona
the garden-goddess, seem plainly to express the
"\
PRBFACK. 33
it and most proper times for digging, plant-
tnring, and gathering the increase. I shall
ter •* tki* head, became our countryman
ndys has, by a laborious search amongst the
agists, been very fell. He has annexed his
item* to the end of eflefc book, whieh de-
» be recommended to none that are Curious
figurative learning.
reader cannot fail of observing, bow many
nt lessons of morality OrM has given us m
irse of bis fables.
story of Deucalion and Pyrrba teaches,
sty and innocence cannot miss of the divine
ion ; and that the only loss irreparable is
our probity and justice.
of Pmeton ; how the too great tenderness
parent proves a cruelty to the child; and
, who would climb to the seat of Jnpiter,
ry meets with his bolt by the way.
tale of Baucis and Philemon is most inimi-
oM. He omits not the minutest circum-
of a cottage-life ; and is much fuller than
where be brings in his contented old man
b, Georg. iv. Ovid represents a good old
happy and satisfied in a cleanly poverty ;
Me, and free of the few things that fortune
en them ; moderate in desires ; affectionate
conjugal relation ; so religious in life, that
ley observed their homely cabin rising to
e, aft the bounty they asked of the gods
d entertained was, that they might do the
f priesthood there, and at their death not
one another,
ttories of Lycaon and Pentfceus, not only
M
34 PREFACE.
deter from infidelity, and irreverence f
but the last also shows, that too great ze
the same effects as none at all, and that
is often more cruel than atheism.
The story of Minos and Scylla rep
infamy of selling our country ; and t<
even they who love the crime, abhor t
In Cippus we find a noble magna
heavenly self-denial ; he preferred the
republic to his own private grandeur ;
with an exemplary generosity, rathe
private freeman out of Rome, than t
numbers of slaves in it.
., From the story of Hercules we lean
is a lady, who (like many others) loves
admirers suffer a great deal for her.
enumerates the labours of the hero ;
he conquered every thing for others,
for himself; then does him the poetic
an apotheosis, thinking it most fit tl
had borne the celestial orbs on hisshou
have a mansion amongst them.
From the assumption of Romulus
war is at an end, the chief busiuess of ]
be the enacting good laws; that after
preserved from the enemy, the next
be to preserve them from themselves
lore the best legislators deserve a pi
heroes and deities.
From Ariadne being inhumanly
Theseus, and generously received 1
we find, that as there is nothing we ca
so there is nothing we ought to despa
From Althea burning the brand; tli
PREFACE. 56 '
take care lest, under the notion of justice, we
should do a cruelty; for they that are set upon
revenge, only endeavour to imitate the injury.
From Polyphemus making love to Galatea ; one
may observe, that the most deformed can find
something to like in their own person. He ex-
amines his face in the stream, combs his rueful
locks with a rake, grows more exact and studious
of his dress, and discovers the first sign of being
in love, by endeavouring at a more than usual care
to please.
The (able of Cephalns and Procris confirms,
that every trifle contributes to heighten the disease
of jealousy ; and that the most convincing proofs
can scarce cure it
From that of Hippomenes and Atalanta we may
discover, that a generous present helps to persuade,
as well as an agreeable person.
From Medea's flying from Pelias's court ; that
the offered favours of the impious should be always
suspected; and that they, who design to make
every one fear them, are afraid of every one.
From Myrrha ; that shame is sometimes hard to
be overcome ; but if the sex once gets the better
of it, it gives them afterwards no more trouble.
From Genis; that effeminacy in youth may
change to valour in manhood, and that as fame
perishes, so does censure.
From Tereus ; that one crime lays the founda-
tion of many; and that the same person, who
begins with lust, may conclude with murder.
From Midas ; that no body can punish a covetous
man worse than he punishes himself; that scarce
M
any thing wonMnnMtasn prove more fatal I
thin toe completi™ of our own wishes ; and
he who hat the most dnih-ea, will eertainiy
with the most disappointments.
From the Pythagorean philosophy, it mi
observed, tliat man n the only animal who
his reUow-creatnre without being angry.
From Protein we have this lesion, that a s
man can pat on any shape ; can be a span
the lion, ami a Hon to tbe spaniel ; and th
knows not to be an enemy who knows not hi
teem a friend ; that if all crowns sliotild cl
their mrnrstry as often as they please, though
may be called other ministers, they are tti
The legend of iEKrulapsas's voyage to Ko
form of a snake, seems to express the beet
sagacity required in professors of that art, ii
readier insight into distempers ; this reptile !
celebrated by the ancient naturalists for a
sight
Cur in amleonm vilium lam arnii acutum,
Quam out aquita, aut terpen* Epidaurim ?
The venerable Epidanrian assumed the figi
an animal, without hands to take fees ; and i
fore grateful posterity honoured him with a
pic. in Una manner should wealthy physi
Hpon proper occasion;, practise, and thoa
PREFACE. 37
will be the less surprised at the author's prophetic
spirit, relating to the duration and success of the
work:
Jdmque'opta exegi, &c.
This prediction has so far proved true, that this
poem has been, ever since, the magazine which
has furnished the greatest poets of the following
ages with fancy and allusions ; and the most cele-
brated painters with subjects and designs. Nor
have his poetical predecessors and contempora-
ries paid less regard to their own performances :
Jntignemque meo capiH petere indt coronam,
Vnde prius nutii vclaritit tempera Mxact.
Lucr. B. I.
Nemo me lacrumeis decoret, nccfunera fietu
Faciit; quur volito vivu% per ora virum.
Ban. Frag.
— — — Ttntanda via e*t, qua me quoque possim
Jbttere humo, victorque virum volitare per ora.
Virg. Ceorg. iii. :
Me dociarum hedera prcunia frontium
Dtis misccnt superis Hor. Od. i.
Again,
Exegi monumentum are perernihtf,
Hegalique $Un Pyratnidum altnu.
Quod non imber cdux, non Aquilo impotent
PouU diruere, out i/mumcrabilis
Annorum series, etfuga temporum.
Hon omnia moriar. Hor. B. tii. Od. xxx. '
The whole Ode is in a manner a continued corn*
pliment to his own writings : nor, in imitation of
this celebrated author, want we poets of our pre-
lent age, who have been pleased to rank them«
selves amongst their own admirers.
vol. 1. »
*B PBBMCB.
I hare done with the oriaiual ; and shall n
H excuse for the length of the. Preface, h*e,
it is in the power of the reader to make it as si
u be pleases. I shall now conclude with a «
or two abont the tr.rsiou.
Translation is commonly either verbal or
raphrasr, or imitation; of the first u Mr. Sao*
Which I think the Metamorphoses can by
means allow of. It fa agreed tlmt the author
It nnfiui'hed; if it had undergone liis last hi
it is more tluu> probable that many aaperffctl
had been retrenched. Where a poem n pertfe,
finished, the translation, with regard to parttci
idioms, cannot be too exact: try doing tfna
sense of the author is more entirely his own ' ,
the cast of the periodi more faithfully preaerr
but where a poem is tedious through exnberai
or dark through a hasty brevity, I think the tn
lator may be excused for dome; what the antt
npon revising, woidd have done himself.
If Mr. Sandys had been of this opinion, j
haps other translations of the Metamorphoses I
not been attempted.
A critic has observed, that in his version of i
book he has scrupulously confined the number
his lines to those of the original. It is fit laboi
lake Die sum npon content, and be better hi
than to count after him.
The manner that seems most suited for this p
sent undertaking, is, neither to follow tb* net!
too close, oat of a critical timoroumes* . a
abandon him too wantonly, through a poetic bel
■sfM. The original should always be kept in vie
*itij(,nt too apparent a deviation from the aem
PABTACEv £9
it is otherwise, it is not a Tersfcjti, fat ut
9iu The translator ought to be as intent
> up the gracefulness of the poem, as artful
i its imperfections; to copy its beauties,
throw a shade Oyer its biemisbes ; to be
to an idolatry, where the author excels ;
take the license of a little paraphrase,
penury of fancy or dryness of expression
> ask for it
ingenious gentlemen concerned in this lin-
ing seem to be of this opinion ; and there-
by have not only consulted the reputation
author, but their own also. There is one
d has no other share in this compliment,
r being the occasion of engaging them that
i obliging the public. He has also been so
the memory and reputation of Mr. Dry-
to give bis incomparable lines the advan*
appearing so near his own.
inot pass by that admirable English poet,
t endeavouring to make his country sensi-
the obligations they have to his muse.
»r they consider the flowing grace of his-
atioh ; the vigorous sallies of his fancy, or
collar delicacy of bis periods; they will
t excellencies never to be enough admired.
' trace him from the first productions of
th to the last performances of his age, they
d, that as the tyranny of rhyme never im-
>n the perspicuity of the sense, so a laft-
ose never wanted to be set off by the har-
f rhyme. And as his earlier works wanted
nrity; so this latter wanted no force o*
40 MM AC 6. I
spirit The felling off of bit hair liad do OQa^. /
consequence than to make his laurels be seen **!- ft
A* a translator he was just; as an inventor W/'
was rich. His ve rsinos of some parti of Lucre-
tios, Horace, Homer, and Virgil throughout, gat
him a just pretence to that compliment which war* ^sw
made to Monsieur d'Ablancourt, a celebrate! 1?*^
French translator: ' It is uncertain who have tea ^••2
greatest obligations to him, the dead or the tit- ^——
■ Willi all these wondrous talents, he was libelled •■■>■
in his lifetime by the very men, who had no other J^
excellencies, but as they were his imitators. When *^j
be was allowed to have sentiments superior to all
others, they charged liim with theft. Hut boo
did he steal r no otherwise than like those that
steal beggars' children, only to clothe them the
better.
It is to be lamented, that gentlemen still con-
tinue this unfair behaviour, and treat one another
every day with most injurious libels. The Hoses
should be ladies of a chaste and fair behaviour:
when they are otherwise, they are furies. It is
certain that Parnassus is at best but a barren
mountain, and its inhabitants contrive to make it
more so by their unneighbourly deportment; the
authors are the only corporation that eniieavoor
at the rain of their own society. Every day mat
convince them, how much a rich fool is respected
above a poor wit The only talents in esteem at
present are those of Excbange^lley : one tally is
north a grove of bays i and it is of muck mora
irycieu is still a ud and diamefnl balance
rath : tlie man that could make kings inl-
and raise triumpliant arebea to heroes,
itt a poor square foot of stone, to show
ie asbes of one of the greatest poets, that
i opon earth, are deposited'.'
Dtydcn'i awb in ITOi), Ihec m* Be miniil
i
'I
If
!?
i:
VID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK I.
TRANSLATED BY DRTDEN.
wdies ehang'd to various forms I sing:
ods, from whom these miracles did spring,
ire my numbers with celestial heat,
I my loug laborious work complete ;
add perpetual teooor to my rhymes,
led from nature's birth to Caesar's times,
ifbre the seas and this terrestrial ball,
heaven's high canopy that covers all,
was the face of nature ; if a face;
>er a rude and indigested mass :
eless lump, unfashion'd and unfranVd,
irring seeds, and justly Chaos nam'd.
on was lighted up, the world to view ;
noon did yet her Wanted horns renew ;
yet was earth suspended in the sky ;
, potsVl, did on her own foundations lie ;
seas about the shores their arms had thrown |
earth, and air, and water, were in one.
i ait was void of light, and earth unstable,
water's dark abyss nnnavigabfe.
A
44 OVID 9 METAWOBPBOIM. fl
No certain form mi any was impresari ;
All were conlus'd, and each diatiirb'd the n
For hot and cold were in one body fix'd ;
And soft with hard, and light with heavy m
But god or nature, while they thai cooti
To these intestine discords pat an end ;
Then earth from air, and seas from earth wen
And grosser air sunk from ethereal heav'n.
Thiu disembroil'd, they take their proper pi
The next of kin contiguously embrace ;
And foes arc snnder'd, by a larger space.
The force of fire ascended first on high,
And took its dwelling in the vaulted sky:
Then air succeeds, in lightness next to fire ;
Whose atoms from [inactive earth retire.
Earth sinks beneath, and draws a numerous
Of pondYons, thick, unwieldy seed* along;
About her roasts unruly waters row;
And, rising nn a ridge, insult the shore.
Thus when the god, whatever god was he,
Had furm'd the whole, and made the parts .
That no unequal portions might be found,
He moulded earth into a spacious ronnd i
Then with a breath, he gave the winds to b
And had the congregated waters flow.
He adds the running springs, and standing 1
And bounding banks for winding rivers mat
Some part in earth are SHUllow'd up, the mi
In ample oceans, disembogu'd, are lost.
He shades the woods, the valleys he n-straii
With rocky mountains, and extends the phi:
And as five zones the' ethereal regions bii
Five, correspondent, are to earth asBign'd :
The sun with rays, directly darting down,
tires all beneath, Mid fires the middle zone :
I
Book 1. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS, 45
The two beneath the distant poles complain
Of endless winter, and perpetual rain.
Betwixt the? extremes, two happier climates bald
The temper that partakes of hot and cold.
The fields of liquid air, inclosing all,
Surround the compass of this earthly ball :
The lighter parts lie neat the fires above,
To* grosser near the watry surface move :
Thick clouds are spread, and storms engender
there,
And thunder's voice,which wretched mortals fear, I
And winds that on their wings cold winter bear. /
Nor were those blustering brethren left at large,
On seas and shores, their fury to discharge:
Bound as they are, and circumscribed in place,
They rend the world, resistless where they pass;
And mighty marks of mischief leave behind j
Such is the rage of their tempestuous kind.
First Earns to the rising morn is sent,
(The regions of the balmy continent ;)
And eastern realms, where early Persians run,
To greet the bless'd appearance of the sun.
'Westward, the wanton ZepLyr wings his flight,
Pleas'd with the remnants of departing hgbt ;
Fierce Boreas, with bis offspring, issues forth
To* invade the frozen waggon o€ the north ;
While frowning Anster seeks the southern sphere,
And rots with endless rain the' unwholesome year.
High o'er the clouds, and empty realms of wind,
The god a clearer space for heaven designM ;
Where fields of light and liquid ether flow,
Purged from the pondrous dregs of earth below.
Scarce bad the power distinguished these, when
straight
The stars, no longer overlaid with wc
« OVID'S METAMOHPHOSES. flw
Exert (heir Leads, from underneath the mass
And upward shoot, and kindle as they past,
And with diffusive light adorn their beavei
phrct.
Then, every void of nature to supply,
With forma of gods he fills the vacant sky:
New herds of beasts he sends, the plains to sha
New colonies of birds, to people air;
And to their oosy beds the finny fish repair.
A creature of a more exalted kind
Was wanting yet, and then was man designed
Conscious of thought, of more capacious bre
For empire form'd, aud fit to rule the rest :
Whether with particles of heavenly Are
The e°d of nature did his sonl inspire,
Or earth, bnt new divided from the sky,
And pliant, still retaio'd the' ethereal energy
Which wise Prometheus temperM into paste
And, mix'rt with living streams, the godlike i
cast
Than, while the mote creation downward be:
Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend
Man looks aloft ; and with erected eyes
Beholds his own hereditary skies.
From such rude principles our form began ;
And earth was mctamorphos'd into man,
THE GOLDEN AGS.
The golden age was first ; when man, yet w
No rale but uncorrnpted reason knew,
And, with a native bent, did good purine.
Unfbrc'd by punishment, unaw'd by fear.
His word* were simple, and his sou) sincere ;
Needless was written law, where none oppn
The law of man was written in his breast !
\
: 1. OVID'S MBTAMOBVHOtlt. 47
ppliant crowds before the judge appear'd, 1
art erected yet, nor cease was heard ; >
U was safe, for conscience was their guard. J
loontain-rrees in distant prospect please,
it the pine descended to the seas ;
life were spread, new oceans to explore;
appy mortals, unconcerned for more,
fd their wishes to their native shore,
ills were yet; nor fence, nor mote, nor mound,
nun was lieard, nor trumpet's angry sound :
voids were forg'd ; but, void of care and crime,
>ft creation slept away their time,
curing earth, yet guiltless of the plough,
mprovok'd, did fruitful stores allow :
nt with food, which nature freely bred,
tidings and on strawberries they fed;
Is and bramble-berries gave the rest,
ailing acorns rornish'd out a feast,
owers, unsown, infields and meadows reign*d ;
western winds immortal spring maintain'd.
lowing years, the bearded corn ensn'd
earth unask'd, nor was that earth renew*cL
veins of valleys, milk and nectar broke ;
loney sweating through the pores of oak*
THE SILVER AGE,
t when good Saturn, banish'd from above,
Iriven to hell, the world was under Jove,
eding times a silver age behold,
ling brass, but more excelPd by gold,
summer, autumn, winter, did appear;
pring was but a season of the year.
on his annual course obliquely made,
days contracted, and enlars/d the bad.
/
»
I
48 otid's metamorphosis. Boa
Then air with sultry heats began to glow ;
The wings of winds were clog'd with ice and s
And shivering mortals, into houses driven,
Sought shelter from the' inclemency of lieav'i
Those houses then were caves, or homely she
With twining osiers fenc*d ; and moss their b
Then ploughs, for seed, the fruitful furrows b
And oxen labour'd first beneath the yoke.
THE BRAZEN AGE.
To this came next in course the brazen ag<
A warlike offspring, prompt to bloody rage,
Not impious yet
J.l
THE IRON AGB.
-Hard steel succeeded then ;
And stubborn as the metal were the men.
Truth, modesty, and shame, the world forsoc
Fraud, avarice, and force, their places took.
Then sails were spread to every wind that hi
Raw were the sailors, and the depths were r
Trees, rudely hollow'd, did the waves sustaii
Ere ships in triumph plough'd the watry plaii
Then landmarks limited to each his right ;
For all before was common as the light.
Nor w&* the ground alone requir*d to bear
Her annual income to the crooked share ;
But greedy mortals, rummaging her store,
Dig'd from her entrails first the precious ore.
Which next to hell the prudent gods had laic
And that alluring ill to sight display'd.
Thus cursed steel, and more accuised gold,
Gave mischief birth, and made that mischief
Book 1. OVID'S METAMORPHOSE*. 49
And doable death did wretched man invade,
By steel assaulted, and by gold betrayed.
N ow (braudish'd weapons glittering in their hands)
Mankind is broken loose from moral bands ;
No rights of hospitality remain :
The guest, by him who harbour'd him, is slain;
The son-in-law pursues the father's life ;
The wife her husband murders ; he, the wife.
The step-dame poison for the son prepares;
The son inquires into his father's years.
Faith flies, and piety in exile mourns ;
And justice, here oppress'd, to heaven returns.
THE GIANT'S WAR.
Nor were the gods themselves more safe above ;
Against beleaguer'd heaven the giants move.
Hills pil'd on hills, on mountains mountains lie,
To make their mad approaches to the sky :
Till Jove, no longer patient, took his time
To' avenge with thunder their audacious crime :
Red lightning play'd along the firmament.
And their demolish'd works to pieces rent.
Siug'd with the flames, and with the bolts transfix'd,
With native earth their blood the monsters mix'd.
The blood, indued with animating heat,
Did in the' impregnant earth new sons beget :
They, like the seed from which they sprung, accurs'd,
Against the gods immortal hatred nurs'd ;
An impious, arrogant, and cruel brood,
Expressing their original from blood.
Which when the king of gods beheld from high
(Withal revolving in his memory,
What he himself had found on earth of late,
Lycaon's guilt, mid his inhuman treat),
fi
50 OVID'S tf ETAMORPHOSSI. BoVNt
He sigh'd ; nor longer with hit pity strove ;
But kindled to a wrath becoming Jove :— •
Then calfd a general council of the gods ;
Who, summonM, iasue from their bless'd abodei
And fill the* assembly with a shining train*
A way there is, in heaven's expanded plain,
Which, when the skits are clear, is seen below,
And mortals by the name of milky know.
The groundwork is of stars; through which the n
Lies open to the thunderer's abode ;
The gods of greater nations dwell around,
And, on the right and left, the palace bound ;
The commons where they can ; the nobler sort
With winding doors wide open, front the court
This place, as far as earth with heaven may vie
I dare to call the Louvre of the sky.
When all were plac'd, in seats distinctly knowi
And he, their father, had assunVd the throne.
Upon his ivory sceptre first he leant,
Then shook his head, that shook the firmament
Air, earth, and seas, obey'd the' almighty nod,
And with a general fear confess'd the god.
At length, with indignation, thus be broke
His awful silence, and the powers bespoke.
* I was not more concerned in that debate
Of empire, when our universal state
Was put to hazard, and the giant-race
Our captive skies were ready to embrace :
jj For though, the foe was fierce, the seeds of a
Rebellion sprung from one original ;
Now wheresoever ambient waters glide,
All are corrupt, and all must be destroy'd.
Let me this holy protestation make,
By hell, and hells inviolable lake,
I
OVID'S SCETAMOKFHOSE* ft
batever in the godhead by ;
ren'd members most be top'd away
te nobler parts are tainted to decay,
rells below a race of demi-gods,
is in waters, and of fawns in woods,
ugh not worthy yet in heaven to live,
it least, enjoy that earth we give.
i be thought securely tods/d below,
nyself, who no superior know,
ive heaven and earth at my command,
n attempted by Lycabn's hand ?
a mnrmar through the synod went,
i one voice they vote his purisument.
en conspiring traitors dartl to doom
>f Caesar, and in him of Rome,
ins'trembled with a pious fear,
us for their earthly thnnderer ;
their care, O Caesar ! less esteem'd
than that of heaven for Jove was deem'd :
1 bis hand, and voice, did first restrain
rmurs, then resum'd his speech again,
to silence were compos d, and sate
erence due to bis superior state.
>1 your pious cares ; already be
his debt to justice and to me.
his crimes, and what my judgments were,
for me thus briefly to declare,
ours of this vile degenerate age,
of orphans, and the' oppressor's rage,
h'd the stars ; I will descend* said I,
o prove this loud complaint a lie.
in human shape, I travelled round
d, and more than what I heard, I found.
5£ OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 1.
O'er Msenalus I took my steepy way,
By caverns infamous for beasts of prey ;
Then cross'd Cyllenl, and the piny shade
More infamous, by cnrs'd Lycaon made.
Dark night had eover'd heaven and earth, before
I entered his nnbospitable door :
Jnst at my entrance, I displayed the sign
That somewhat was approaching of divine.
The prostrate people pray ; the tyrant grins j
And, adding profanation to his sins,
u I'll try," said he, " and if a god appear,
To prove his deity shall cost him dear."
*T was late ; the graceless wretch my death prepares,
When I shonld sonndly sleep, oppress'd with cares;
This dire experiment he chose, to prove
If I were mortal, or undoubted Jove.
But first he had resolv'd to taste my pow'r ;
Not long before, but in a luckless hour,
Some legates, sent from the Molossian state,
Were on a peaceful errand come to treat :
Of these he murders one, he boils the flesh,
And lays the mangled morsels in a dish :
Some part he roasts ; then serves it up, so dress'd,
And bids me welcome to this human feast.
MoV'd with disdain, the table I o'erturn'd,
And with avenging flames the palace burn'd :
The tyrant, in a fright, for shelter gains
The neighbouring fields, and scours along the plains.
Howling he fled, and fain he wonld have spoke j
But human voice bis brutal tongue forsook.
About his lips the gather^ foam he churns,
And, breathing8langhter8,stiU with rage he burns j
But on the bleating flock his fury turns.
■1
OVID* METAMORPHOSES. * 55
j, now his hide, with rugged hairs
bis back ; a ramish'd face he bears ;
lescend, his shoulders sink away
ly his legs for chase of prey,
a wolf, his hoariniess remains,
une rage in other members reigns,
till sparkle in a narrower space;
•etain the grin and violence of his face.
vat a single rain, foot not one
so jast a punishment alone,
i a monster, and the' ungodly times,
te into guilt, are sworn to crimes.
ke involv'd in ill ; and all
he same relentless fury rail.'
tded he ; the greater gods assent ;
ar urging his severe intent ;
ill up the cry for punishment
vith pity they remember man,
n as much as heavenly spirits can.
* when those were lost of human birth,
would do with all this waste of eaith ?
peopled world he would resign
, a mute and more ignoble line ;
1 altars must no longer smoke,
rere left to worship and invoke/
the father of the gods replied —
: unnecessary fear aside ;
he care new people to provide |
n wondrous principles ordain
dike the first, and try my skill again/
r had -he toss'd the flaming brand,
I the thunder in his spacious hand,
I to discharge on seas and land;
}
54 OVIf>'§ METAMORPHOSES. Book h
But stop'd, for fear, thus violently driv'n,
The sparks should catch the axle-tree of heavn.
Kinwmbring in the fates, a time when fire
Should to tl:e battlements of heaven aspire,
And all his blazing worlds above should burn;
And all the' inferior globe to ciudere turn.
His dire artillery thus dismiss'd, he bent
His thoughts to some securer punishment:
Concludes to pour a watry deluge down j
And what he durst not burn, resolves to drown*
The northern breath, that freezes floods, he binds
With all the race of cloud-dispelling winds ;
The south he loos'd, who night and horror brinpi
And frogs arc shaken from his flaggy wings.
From his divided beard two streams he pours,
His head and rheumy eyes distil in show'rs.
With rain his robe and heavy mantle flow,
And lazy mists arc lowring on his brow ;
Still as he swept along, with his clencu'd fist
Hesqucez'd the clouds, the' imprisoned clouds resist:
The skies, from pole to pole, with peals resound;
And showers inlarg'd, come pouring on the ground.
Then, clad in colours of a various dye,
Juuonian Iris breeds a new supply
To feed the clouds : impetuous rain descends;
The bearded corn beneath the burden bends ;
Defrauded clowns deplore their perish'd grain ;
And the long labours of the year are vain*
Nor from his patrimonial heaven alone
Is Jove content to pour his vengeance down;
Aid from his brother of the seas he craves,
To help him with auxiliary waves.
The watry tyrant calls his brooks and floods,
Who roll from jnossy caves (their moist abodes)^
fc 1. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 55
with perpetual unit his palace fill:
horn, in brief, he thus imparts his will,
mall exhortation needs ; your powers enmity )
this bad world, so Jove requires, destroy. ♦
oose the reins to all your watry store:
down the dams, and. open every door.'
e floods, by natnre enemies to land,
proudly swelling with their new command,
ore the living stones that stop*d their way ;
gushing from their source, augment the sea.
, with his mace, their monarch struck the
ground;
inward trembling, earth received the wound; |
rising streams a ready passage found,
expanded waters gather on the plain :
float the fields, and over-top the grain ;
i rushing onwards, with a sweepy sway,
flocks and folds and labouring hinds away,
safe their dwellings were ; for, sap'd by floods,
r houses fell upon their household gods,
solid piles, too strongly built to fall,
o'er their heads behold a watry wall :
seas and earth were iu confusion lost;
>rld of waters, and without a coast,
le climbs a cliff; one in his boat is borne,
ploughs above, where late he sow'd his corn ;
rs o'er chimney-tops and turrets row,
drop their anchors on the meads below ;
lownward driven, they bruise the tender vine,
:oss'd aloft, are knock'd against a pine,
where of late the kids bad crop'd the grass,
monsters of the deep now take their place,
ting Nereids on the cities ride,
wondering dolphins o'er the palace glide.
56 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. B*)k 1.
On leave*, and roast* of mighty oak*, they brosst;
And their broad fins entangle in the boughs.
The frighted wolf now swims amongst the sheep;
Tfc yellow lion wanders in the deep ;
His rapid force no longer helps the boar ;
The stag swims foster than be ran before.
The fowls, long beating on their wings in vain,
Despair of land, and drop into the main.
Now hills and vales no more distinction know;
And levelTd nature lies oppress'd below.
The most of mortals perish in the flood :
The small remainder dies for want of food.
A mountain of stupendous height there stands
Betwixt the' Athenian and Boeotian lands,
The bound of fruitful fields, while fields they were;
But then a field of waters did appear:
Parnassus is its name ; whose forky rise
Mounts through the clouds, and mates the lofty skies.
High on the summit of this dubious cliff,
Deucalion wafting, moor'd his little skiff.
He with his wife were only left behind
Of perish'd man ; they two were human kind.
Hie mountain nymphs and Themis they adore,
And from her oracles relief implore.
The most upright of mortal men was he ;
The most sincere, and holy woman, she.
When Jupiter, surveying earth from high,
Beheld it in a lake of water lie,
That where so many millions lately liv'd,
But two, the best of either sex, surviv'd ;
He loos'd the northern wind ; fierce Boreas flies
To puff away the clouds, and purge tlie skies:
Serenely, while he blows, the vapours driv'n,
Discover heaven to earth, and earth to heaven.
I a«cc.
Book 1. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 57
The billows fall, while Neptune lays his mace
On the rough sea, and smooths its furrow'd face.
Already Triton, at his call, appears
Above the waves ; a Tyrian robe he wears
And in his hand a crooked trumpet bears.
The sovereign bids him peaceful sounds inspire,
And give the waves the signal to retire.
His writhen shell he takes ; whose narrow vent
Grows by degrees into a large extent ;
Then gives it breath ; the blast, with doubting sound,
Runs the wide circuit of the world around. -
The sun first heard it, in his early east,
And met the rattling echoes in the west.
The waters, listening to the trumpet's roar,
Obey the summons, and forsake the shore.
A thin circumference of land appears ; ■
And earth, but not at once, her visage rears,
And peeps upon the seas from upper grounds;
The streams, but just contained within their bounds,
By slow degrees into their channels crawl ;
And earth increases as the waters fall.
In longer time the tops of trees appear,
Which mud on their dishonoured branches bear.
At length the world was all restored to view i
Bnt desolate, and of a sickly hue :
Nature beheld herself, and stood aghast,
A dismal desart, and a silent waste.
Which when Deucalion, with a piteous look
Beheld, he wept, and thus to Pyrrha spoke :
* Ob wife, oh sister, oh ! of all thy kind
The best and only creature left behind :
By kindred, love, and now by dangers join'
Of multitudes, who breath'd the common air,
We two remain : a species in a pair:
kind )
lind ; >
;ers join'd ; 3
i
36 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES, fiftffcl.
The rest the seas have swallow**! ; nor have we
Ev'n of this wretched lire a certainty.
The clouds are still above ; and while I speak,
A second deluge o'er our heads may break.
Should I be snatched from hence^and thou remain^ )
Without relief, or partner of thy pain, >
How couldst thou such a wretched Hie sustain? >
Should 1 be left, and thou be lost, the sea
That buried her I lov'd should bury me.
Oh, could our father his old arts inspire,
And make me heir of his informing Are,
That so I might abolish'd man retrieve,
And perish'd people in new souls might live!
But heaven is pleas'd, (nor ought we to compfana)
That we, the' examples of mankind, remain.'
He said : the careful couple join their tears,
And then invoke the gods with pious prayers*
Thus, in devotion having eas'd their grief,
From sacred oracles they seek relief,
And to Cephisus' brook their way pursue :
The stream was troubled, but the ford they knew
With living waters in the fountain bred»
They sprinkle first their garments and their head,
Then took the way which to the temple led.
The roofs were all defiPd with moss and mire,
The desart altars void of solemn fire.
Before the gradual, prostrate they adortt ;
The pavement kiss'd, and thus the saint implorU
' O righteous Themis 1 if the powers above
By prayers are bent to pity and to love ;
If human miseries can move their mind $
If yet they can forgive and yet be kind ;
Tell how we may restore, by second birth,
Mankind, and people desolated earth.'
k l. ovrr/s metamorphosis. 59
i thus the gracious goddess, nodding, said :
wrt, and with your vestments veil your head ;
stooping lowly down, with loosen'd looes,
w each behind your backs yonr mighty me*
flier's bones.'
s'd the pair and mnte with wonder stand,
Pyrrha first refus'd the dire command,
bid it heaven !' said she, * that I should tear
e holy relics from the sepulchre,'
ponder*d the mysterious words again,
«me new sense; and long they sought in vain:
ngth Deucalion clear'd his clondy brow,
said : * The dark enigma will allow
swing, which if well I understand,
i sacrilege will free the god's command,
earth our mighty mother is, the stones
r capacious body are her bones ;
3 we must cast behind.' With hope and fear,
sjotnan did the new solution liear :
nan drffides in his own augury,
doubts the gods ; yet both resolve to try.
ending from the mount, they first unbind
'vests ; and, voil'd, they cast the stones behind ;
(tones (a miracle to mortal view,
ong tradition makes it pass for true)
irst the rigour of their kind expel,
suppled into softness as they fell ;
swell'd ; and, swelling, by degrees grew warm,
took the rudiments of human form.
rfect shapes : in marble such are seen,
l the rude chisel does the man begin;
e yet the roughness of the stone remains,
oat the rising muscles and the veins.
i
-* »■ *-^*-.
I
60 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES* JMt
T.te sippy parte, and next resembling juice,
Were turn'd to moisture, for the body's use, |(
Supplying humours, blood, and nourishment;
The re*t, too solid to receive a bent,
Converts to bones ; and what was once a vein,
Its former name and nature did retain.
By help of power divine, in little space
What the man threw assum'd a mauly face;
And what the wife, renew'd the female race.
Hence we derive our nature, born to bear
Laborious life, and harden'd into care.
The rest of animals, from teeming earth
Produc'd, in various forms receiv'd their birth.
The native moisture, in its close retreat.
Digested by the sun's ethereal heat,
As in a kindly womb, began to breed,
Then swell'd, and quicken'd by the vital seed :
And some in less, and some in longer space,
Were ripen'd into form, and took a several face.
Thus when the Nile frrm Pharian fields is fled,
And seeks, with ebbing tides, his ancient bed,
The fat manure with heavenly fire is warm'd,
And crusted creatures, as in wombs, are form'dj
These, when they turn the glebe, the peasants nod;
Some rude, and yet unfinish'd in their kind :
Short of their limbs, a lame imperfect birth;
One half alive, and one of lifeless earth.
For heat and moisture, when in bodies join'd,
The temper that results from cither kind
Conception makes ; and fighting till they mix,
Their mingled atoms in each other fix.
Thus nature's hand the genial bed prepares
With friendly discord, and with fruitful wan.
I
.^
•}
2?«0& 1. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 01
From hence the surface of the ground with mod
And slime besmear^, (the feces of the flood)
Receiv'd the rays of heaven, and, sacking in
The seeds of heat, new creature did begin :
Some were of several sorts prodocM before,
Bat of new monsters, earth created more.
Unwillingly, but yet she brought to light
Thee, Python, too, the wondering world to fright
And the new nations, with so dire a sight :
So monstrous was his balk, so h^pt a space
Did bis vast body and long train embrace.
Whom Phoebus basking on a bank espy'd ;
Ere now the god his arrows had not try'd,
But on the trembling deer, or mountain goat ;
At this new quarry he prepares to shoot.
Though every shaft took place, he spent the store )
Of his rail quiver; and 'twas long before >
The* expiring serpent wallow'd in his gore. )
Then, to preserve the lame of such a deed,
For Python slain, he Pythian games decreed;
Where noble youths for mastership should strive,
To quoit, to run, and steeds and chariots drive.
The prize was fame : in witness of renown
An oaken garland did the victor crown.
The laurel was not yet for triumphs born ; *>
3 ut every green alike by Phcebus worn, [adorn, I
X>id, with promiscuous grace, his flowing locks J
THE TRANSFORMATION OF DAPHNE INTO A
LAUREL.
The first and fairest of his loves was she
Whom not blind fortune, but the dire decree
Of angry Cupid, forc'd him to desire :
Xtepbne her name, and Peneus was her sire.
02 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 1.
SwelFd with the pride that new success attends,
He sees the stripling while his bow he bends,
And thus insults him : ' Thou lascivious boy,
Are arms like these for children to employ?
Know, such achievements are my proper claim,'
Due to my vigour, and unerring aim :
Resistless are my shafts, and Python late
In such a feathe.r'd death has found his fate.
Take up thy torch, (and lay my weapons by)
With that the fltfble souls of lovers fry.'
To whom the son of Venus thus reply'd :
1 Phoebus, thy shafts are sure on all beside,
But mine on Phoebus ; mine the fame shall be
Of all thy conquests, when I conquer thee.'
He said ; and, soaring, swiftly wing'd his flight,
Nor stop'd but on Parnassus' airy height.
Two different shafts he from his quiver draws ;
One to repel desire, and one to cause.
One shaft is pointed with refulgent gold ;
To bribe the love, and make the lover bold :
One blunt, and tip'd with lead, whose base allay
Provokes disdain, and drives desire away.
The blunted bolt against the nymph he dress'd ;
But with the sharp transfix'd Apollo's breast.
The* enamoured deity pursues the chase;
The scornful damsel shuns his loath'd embrace :
In hunting beasts of prey her youth employs,
And Phoebe rivals in her rural joys.
With naked neck she goes, and shoulders bare ;
And with a fillet binds her flowing hair.
By many suitors sought, she mocks their pains,
And still her vow'd virginity maintains.
Impatient of a yoke, the name of bride
Kiie shuns, and hates the joys she never try*d.
'■\
}
1
FID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 6$
woods she fixes her desire,
lat youth and kindly love inspire.
:des her oft : ' Thou ow'st,' says he,
) thyself, a son to me.'
ne abhors the nuptial bed ;
h blushes, and she hangs her head ; • i
round his neck her tender arms, ; \
ith blandishments, and filial charms :
• lord/ said she, ' to live and die
id, without the marriage-tie.
til request ; I beg no more
tana's father gave before.'
sire was soften'd to consent ;
rish wonld prove her punishment :
routh and so much beauty join'd,
tate which her desires designed,
light, aspiring to her bed,
e seeks, with nattering fancies fed
own oracles misled.
>ty fields the stubble burns,
ivellers, when day returns, <
torches on dry hedges throw, , f
e flames, and kindle all the row,
god, consuming in desire,
a his breast a fruitless fire,
d neck he view'd, (her neck was bare)
toulders her dishevell'd hair :
comb'd,' said be, ' with what a grace
waving curl become her face !'
eyes, like heavenly lamps that shone ;
r tips, too sweet to view alone ;
gen, and her panting breast ;
be sees, and for the rest
tamtim-yet unseen are best :
:l
64 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Boofc 1.
Swift as the wind, the damsel fled away,
JNor did for these alluring speeches stay :
4 Stay, nymph/ he cried, ' I follow, not a foe.
Thus from the lion trips the trembling doe ;
Thus from the wolf the frighten'd lamb removes
And, from pursuing falcons, fearful doves ;
Thou shunn'st a god, and shunn'st a god that loves.
Ah, lest some thorn should pierce thy tender foot,
Or thou shouldst fall in flying my pursuit !
To sharp uneven ways thy steps decline ;
Abate thy speed, and I will bate of mine.
Yet think from whom thou dost so rashly fly;
Nor basely born, nor shepherd's swain am I.
Perhaps thon know'st not my superior state ;
And from that ignorance proceeds thy bate.
Me Claros, Delphos, Tenedos, obey;
These hands the Patareian sceptre sway.
The king of gods begot me : what shall be,
Or is, or ever was, in fate, I see.
Mine is the' invention of the charming lyre ;
Sweet notes, and heavenly numbers, I inspire.
Sure is my bow, unerring is my dart ;
But ah ! more deadly his who piere'd my heart
Med'cinc is mine; what herbs and simples grow
In fields and forests, all their powers I know
And am the great physician call'd, below.
Alas, that fields and forests can afford
No remedies to heal their love-sick lord I
To cure the pains of love no plant avails ;
And his own physic the physician fails.'
She heard not half, so furiously she flies ;
And on her ear the' imperfect accent dies.
Fear gave her wings ; and as she fled, the wind
Increasing, spread her flowing hair behind ;
in.
•ow)
M
~. .1
„bU.p.rft""°„aii="
the MttinC ""»-"■ ft ffi,;
BtoM « ™".™ mot»l W*
The nymph ii all into a lanrel pone ;
The smoothness of her akin remains alone.
Yet Pluxboa loves her still, and casting rotn
Her bole his arms, some little warmth be fc
The tree still panted in the' onfinishM part.
Not wholly veretivr, and heav'd her heart.
Be fix'd his lips upon the tremblinf rind ;
It awcrv'd aside, and his embrace declin'd.
To whom the god : ' Because tbon canst m
My mistress, I espouse thee for my tree :
Be thou the prise of honour and renown,
The deathless poet, and the poem crown.
Thon shalt the Roman festivals adorn,
And, after poets, be by vie ton worn.
Tbon shalt returning Ca?«sr*8 triumph grace
When pomps shall in a long procession pan
Wreath'd on the pott before his palace wail
And be the sacred guardian of the gate.
Secure from thunder, and uuhann'd by Jon
Unfading as th' immurtal powei* above ;
And aa the locks of Phcebns are unshorn.
So shall perpetual green thy boughs adorn.'
The grateful tree was pleas' d with what he
And shoos: the shady honours of her head.
nut)
An ancient forest in Thessalja grows,
Which Tempe'i pleasing valley does iocloai
Through this the rapid Peneus takes his co
From Hindus rolling with inipetooDs force :
Mists from the rivers mighty fall arise,
And deadly damps inclose the cloudy skies
Perpetual fogs are banging o'er the wood;
And sounds of waters deaf the neigbbourtw
Book I. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 63
Deep, in a rocky cave, he makes abode,
(A mansion proper for a mourning god).
Here he gives audience ; issuing oat decreet
To rivers, his dependent deities.
On this occasion hither they resort,
To pay their homage, and to make their court.
All doubtful, whether to congratulate
His daughter's honour, or lament her rate.
Spercbaeus, crown'd with poplar, first appears ;
Then old Apidanus came crown'd with years:
Enipeus turbulent, Amphrysos tame;
And Mas last, with lagging waters came.
Then, of his kindred brooks, a numerous throes;
Condole his loss, and bring their urns along.
Not one was wanting of the watery tram,
That filTd his flood, or mingled with the main,
But Inachus, who in his cave, alone,
Wept not another's losses, but his own :
For his dear 16, whether stray'd or dead,
To him uncertain, doubtful tears he shed.
He sought her through the world; butsbughtin vain:
And no where finding, rather fear'd her slain.
Her, just returning from her father's brook,
Jove had beheld with a desiring look ;
And, * Oh fair daughter of the flood V he said,
Worthy alone of Jove's imperial bed,
Happy whoever shall those charms possess ;
The king of gods (nor is thy lover less)
Invites thee to yon cooler shades ; to shun
The scorching rays of the meridian sun.
Nor shalt thou tempt the dangers of the grove
Alone, without a guide ; thy guide is Jove ;
No puny power, but be whose high command
Is unconfin'd ; who rules the seas and land j
And tempers thunder in hit awfid JhhkL
\
I
6S OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. B*k \
Oh, fly not !' — for she fled from his embrace
O'er Lerna's pastures ; lie pursued the chase
Along the shades of the Lyrcaean plain :
At length the god, who never asks in vain,
Involv'd with vapours, imitating night,
Both air and earth ; and then suppress* d her flight,
And, mingling force with love, enjoy'd the fall
. r delight.
Meantime the jealous Juno, from on high,
Survey'd the fruitful fields of Arcady ;
And wonder'd that the mist should overran
The face of daylight, and obscure the son.
No natural cause she found, from brooks or bog
Or marshy lowlands, to produce the fogs :
Then round the skies she sought for Jupiter,
Her faithless husband ; but no Jove was there.
Suspecting now the worst, * Or 1/ she said,
' Am much mistaken, or am much betray'oV
With fury she precipitates her flight ;
Dispels the shadows of dissembled night;
And to the day restores his native light.
The* almighty lecher, careful to prevent
The consequence, foreseeing her descent,
Transforms his mistress in a trice*, and now
In Id's place appears a lovely cow.
So sleek her skin, so faultless was her make,
£v*n Juno did unwilling pleasure take
i ! To see so fair a rival of her love ;
And what she was, and whence, inquired of Jo*
Of what fair herd, and from what pedigree ?
The god, half caught, was forc'd upon a lie ;
And said, she sprung from earth. She took the wo
And beg'd the beauteous heifer of her lord.
What should he do? 'twas equal shame to Jove
Or to relinquish, or betray his love :
*
■i
■
Book 1. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES, 69
Yet to refuse so slight a gift would be
Bat more t' increase his consort's jealousy ;
Thus fear and love, by turns, his heart assail'd j
And stronger love had sure, at length, prevail'd :
Bnt some faint hope remauVd, his jealous queen
Had not the mistress through the heifer seen.
The cautious goddess, of her gift possess'd,.
Yet harbour'd anxious thoughts within her breast j
As she who knew the falsehood of her Jove,
And justly fear'd some new relapse of love ;
Which to prevent, and to secure her care,
To trusty Argus she commits the fair.
The head of Argus (as with stars the skies)
Was compass'd round, and wore an hundred eyes j
Bnt two by turns their lids in slumber steep,
The rest on duty still their station keep ;
Nor could the total constellation sleep.
Thus, ever present to his eyes and mind.
His charge was still before him, though behind.
In fields he suffer'd her to feed by day ;
But when the setting sun to night gave way,
The captive eow he summon'd with a call,
And drove ber back, and tied her to the stall.
On leaves of trees and bitter herbs she fed,
Heaven was her canopy, bare earth her bed;
So hardly lodg'd, and to digest her food,
She drank from troubled streams defll'd with mud .
Her woeful story fain she would have told,
With hands upheld, but had no hands to hold.
Her head to her ungentle keeper bow'd,
She strove to speak; she spoke not, but she low'd :
Affrighted with the noise, she iook'd around,
And seem'd to* inquire the author of the sound*
vol. i, p
7U «)V ID'S METAMORPHOSES. Botkl-
Once on the banks where often die bad ptatfd,
( Her father's bauki) she came, and there sorreytf
Her alter'd visage, and her branching: head.
And, starting, from herself she would have fled.
Her fellow nymphs, familiar to her eyes,
Beheld, but knew her not in this disguise.
Ev'n Inachns himself was ignorant,
And in his daughter did his daughter want.
She follow'd where her fellows went, as she
Were still a partner of the company :
They stroke her neck ; the gentle heifer standi,
And her neck offers to their stroking hands.
Her father gave her grass; the grass she took,
And lick'd his palms, and cast a piteous look;
And in the language of her eyes she spoke,
She would have told Iter name, and ask'd rebef,
But, wanting words, in tears she tells her grief;
Which with her foot she makes him understand,
And prints the name of Io in the sand.
' Ah, wretched me!' her mournful father cried;
She, with a sigh, to wretched mc replied :
About her milk-white neck his arms he threw.
And wept, and then these tender words easoe:
* And art thou sue, whom I have sought around
The world, and have at length so sadly found?
So found, is worse than lost : with mutual wonk
Thou answer'st not, no voir- thy tongue afford*;
But sighs are deeply drawn from out thy breast,
And speech denied, by lowing is expressed.
Unknowing, I prepar'd the bridal bed.
With empty hopes of happy issue fed ;
But now the husband of a herd must be
Thy mate, and bellowing sons thy progeny.
1
Book 1. OVID'S M BTAMO&PnetlS. 7]
Oh, were I mortal, death might bring relief;
Bat now my godhead but extends my grief;
Prolongs my woes, of which no end I see,
And makes me curse my immortality P
More had he said, bat, fearful of her stay,
The starry guardian drove his charge away
To some fresh pasture ; on a hilly height
He sat himself, and kept her still in sight
THE EYES OF ARGUS TRANSFORMED INTO A
PEACOCK'S TRAIN.
Now Jove no longer could her suiferings bear;
Bat calTd in haste his airy messenger,
The son of Maia, with severe decree
To kill the keeper, and to set her free.
With all his harness soon the god was sped,
His flying hat was fastened on his head ;
Wings on his heels were hung, and in bis hand
He holds the virtue of the snaky wand.
The liquid air his moving pinions wound,
And, in the moment, shoot him on the ground.
Before he came in sight, the crafty god
His wings dismissed, but still retain'd his rod :
That sleep-procuring wand wise Hermes took,
But made it seem to sight a shepherd's hook.
With this, he did a herd of goats control,
Which by the way he met, and slily stole.
Clad like a country swain, he pip'd and sung,
And, playing, drove his jolly troop along.
With pleasure, Argus the musician heeds ;
But wonders much at those new vocal reeds.
* And whosoe'er thou art, my friend,' said be,
4 Up hither drive thy goats, and play by me :
This hill has browse for them, and shade for thee.'
4
72 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bo** 1.
The god, who was with ease induc'd to climb,
Began discourse to pass away the time ;
And still betwixt his tuneful pipe he plies,
And watch'd his hour to close the keeper's eyes.
With roach ado he partly kept awake,
Not suffering all his eyes repose to take ;
And ask'd the stranger, who did reeds inve
And whence began so rare an instrument ?
THE TRANSFORMATION OP SYRINX INTO REEDS.
Then Hermes thus: ' A nymph of late there was
Whose heavenly form her fellows did
The pride and joy of mir Arcadia's plains,
Belov'd by deities, ador'd by swains :
Syrinx her name, by Sylvans oft pursued,
As oft she did the lustful gods demde :
The rural and the woodland powers disdain'd;
With Cynthia hunted, and her rights maintained:
like Phoebe clad, even Phoebe's self she seems;
So tall, so straight, such well-proportionM limbs:
The nicest eye did no distinction know,
But that the goddess bore a golden bow:
Distiuguish'd thus, the sight she cheated too.
Descending from Lycseus, Pan admires
The matchless nymph, and burns with new desires :
A crown of pine upon his head he wore,
And thus began her pity to implore ;
But ere he thus began, she took her flight
So swift, she was already out of sight :
Nor stay'd to hear the courtship of the god ;
But bent her course to Ladon's geotle flood :
There by the river stop'd, and, trr*d before,
Relief from water-nymphs her prayers implore.
ur.')
Book 1. OTID'8 METAMORPHOSES. 75
' Now while the lustful god, with speedy pace, \
Just thought to strain her in a strict embrace, (^
He fills his arms with reeds, new-rising on the 1
place: )
And while he sighs, his ill success to find,
The tender canes were shaken by the wind,
And breath'd a mournful air, nnheard before,
That much surprising Fan, yet pleas'd him more*
Admiring this new music, u Thon," he said,
" Who canst not be the partner of my bed,
At least sbalt be the consort of my mind,
And often, often to my lips be johfd."
He foratfd the reeds, proportion'd as they are,
Unequal in their length, and wax'd with care,
They still retain the name of his ungrateful mir.
While Hermes pip'd, and song, and told his tale,
The keeper's winking eyes began to mil,
And drowsy slumber on the lids to creep,
Till all the watchman was at length asleep.
Then soon the god his voice and song suppressM,
And with his powerful rod confirm'd his rest:
Without delay his crooked falchion drew,
And at one fatal stroke the keeper slew.
Down from the rock fell the dissever^ head,
Opening its eyes in death ; and, falling, bled,
And mark'd the passage with a crimson trail :
Thus Argus lies in pieces, cold and pale ;
And all his hundred eyes, with all their light,
Are clos'd, at once, in one perpetual night
These Juno takes, that they no more may fail,
And spreads them in her peacock's gaudy tail.
Impatient to revenge her injnrVl bed,
She wreaks her anger on her rival's bead ;
74
DVin't MBTAMOBPHMEI.
With furies frights her from her native hoi
And driven her guiding, round the world 1
Nor cni'd her madness, end her flight be)
She tonch'd the limits of the Pharian sho:
At length, arriving on the banks of Nile,
Wearied with length of way*, and worn v
She laid her down ; and, leaning on her k
Invok'd the cause of all her miseries ;
And out her languishing regards above,
For help from heaven, and her ungrateful
She eigji'd, slie wept, she low'd; 'twas all ski
And with unkindness seem'd to tax the gt
1 ant, with an humble prayer, she beg'd re
Or death at least, to finish all her woes.
Jove heard her vows, and with a flstteric,
In her behalf to jealous Juno spoke.
He cast his anus about her neck, and sail
' Dame, rest secure ; no more thy nuptial
This nymph shall violate ; by Styx I awe)
And every oath that binds the Thunderer
The goddess was appeaa'd ; and at the »i
Was 16 to her former shape restor'd I
The rugged hair began to fall away ;
The sweetness of her eyes did only stay,
Though not so large -, her crooked boras i
The wideaesi of her jaws and nostrils cea
Her hoofs to hands return, in little space
The five long taper fingers take their plat
And nothing of the heifer now is seen,
Beside the native whiteness of the akin.
Erected on her feet she walks again ;
And two the duty of the four sustain.
She tries her tongue ; her silence softly bi
And fearc her former lowing) when she sr.
Book I. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 75
A goddess now, through all the' Egyptian state ;
And serv'd by priests, who in white linen wait.
Her son was Epaphus, at length believ'd
The son of Jove, and as a god received ;
With sacrifice ador'd, and public pray Ys,
He common temples with his mother shares.
Equal in years, and rival in renown )
With Epaphus, the youthful Phaeton >
Like honour claims and boasts his sire the Sun. >
His haughty looks, and his assuming air,
The son of Isis could no longer bear :
4 Thou tak'st thy mother's word too far,' said he,
' And hast nsurp'd thy boasted pedigree.
Go, base pretender to a borrow'd name.'
Thus tax'd, he blush'd with anger and with shame ;
But shame repress'd his rage : the daunted youth
Soon seeks his mother, and inquire* the truth.
' Mother,' said he, * this infan-y was thrown
' By Epaphus on you, and in* your son.
He spoke in public, told it to my face ;
Nor durst I vindicate the dire disgrace :
Even I, the bold, the sensible of wrong,
Restrained by shame, was forc'd to hold my tongue.
To hear an open slander is a curse ;
But not to find an answer is a worse.
If I am heaven-begot, assert your son
By some sure sign ; and make my rather known,
To right my honour, and redeem your own.
He said, and saying cast his arms about
Her neck, and beg'd her to resolve the i'oubt
'Tis hard to judge if Clymene were mov'd
More by his prayer, whom she so dearly lov'd,
Or more with fury nYd ; to find her name
2>adnc*d, and made the sport of common fame.
iown,>
76
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. B*k 1.
She strctch'd her arms to heaven, and fix'd her ejei
On that fair planet that adorns the skies :
' Now by those beams,' said she, ' whose holy firei
Consume my breast, and kindle my desires;
By him who sees ns both, and cheers our sight.
By liim, the public minister of light,
I swear that Sun begot thee : if I lie,
Let him his cheerful influence deny :
Let him no more this perjnr'd creature see,
And shine on all the world bnt only me.
If still yon donbt your mother'* innocence,
His eastern mansion is not far from hence ;
With little pains you to his levee go,
And from himself your parentage may know.1
With joy the' ambitious youth his mother heard,
And eager for the journey soon prepared.
He longs the world beneath him to survey ;
To guide the chariot, and to give the day.
From Mero's burning sands he bends his course.
Nor less in India feels bis father's force ;
His travel urging till tie came in sight,
And saw the palace by the purple light.
■. m - • ■" 1«4 '
3VID»S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK II.
TRANSLATED BY ADDI30V.
THE STORY OF PHAETO*. *
B Sun's bright palace, on bigh columns rais'd,
h burnish'd gold and flaming jewels blazed;
: folding gates difius'd a silver light,
I with a milder gleam refresb'd the sight ;
polish'd ivory was the covering wrought :
! matter vied not with the sculptor's thought:
in the portal was display'd on high
e work of Vulcan) a fictitious sky ;
raving sea the' inferior earth embrac'd,
1 gods and goddesses the waters grac'd.
son here a mighty whale bestrode ;
ton, and Proteus, (the deceiving god)
h Doris here were carv'd, and all her train ;
le loosely swimming in the figur'd main,
ile some on rocks their drooping hair divide,
I some on fishes through the waters glide :
•ugh various features did the sisters grace,
ister*s likeness was in every face,
earth a different landscape courts the eyes $
11, towns, and beasts, in distant prospects rise,
1 nymphs, and streams, and woods, and rural
deities.
K
78 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bt
O'er all the heaven's refulgent image shines
On either gate were sis engraven signs.
Here Phaeton, still gaining on the' ascent
To his suspected father's palace went;
Till pressing forward through the bright atw
He saw at distance the illustrious god :
He saw at distance, or the daazling light
Had flash'!] too strongly on bis aching sight,
The god sits high, exalted on a throne
Of bluing gems, with purple garments on ;
The Hours, in order nuig'd on either band,
And Days, and Months, and Years, and Ages
Here Spring appears with flowery duplets I
Here Summer in her wheaten garland crow;
Here Autumn the rich trodden grapes beam
And hoary Winter shivers in the rear.
Plite 1ms beheld the youth from off hU thi
That eye, which looks on all, was fix d in oi
He saw the boy's confusion in his nice,
Snrpris'd at all the wonders of the place ;
And cries aloud, ' What wants my son ? for
My son thou art, and I must call tbee so.'
' Light of the world! (the trembling y on thr
Illustrious parent ! since you dont despise
The parents name, some certain token give
That I may Clyinenes proud boast believe.
Nor longer under false reproaches grieve.'
The tender sire was toucli'd with what hi
And flung the blare of glories from his head
And bid the yonth advance : ' My son,' saic
' Come to thy father's arms ! for Clymeue
His told thee true: a parent's name I own,
And deem thee worthy to be call'd my son.
k 2. OYID'8 METAMORPHOSIS. 79
sore proof, make some request, and I,
te'er it be, with that request comply ;
tyx I swear, whose waves are hid in night,
roll impervious to my piercing sight.'
ie youth transported asks, without delay,
aide the son's bright chariot for a day.
ie god repented of the oath he took,
inguish thrice his radiant head he shook :
son,' says he, ' some other proof require,
was my promise, rash is thy desire,
lia deaytiiis wish which thoo hast made,
vhat I caWt deny, would fain dissuade.
vast and hazardous the ta*k appears,
smted to thy strength, nor to thy years,
lot is mortal, but thy wishes fly
nd the province of mortality :
e is not one of all the gods that dares
rever skiU'd in other great affirin)
loont the burning axle-tree bat I ;
Jove himself, the ruler of the sky,
hnrls the three-fbrk'd thunder from above,
a try his strength : yet who so strong as Jove ?
steeds climb up the first ascent with pain,
when- the middle firmament they gain,
>wnward from the heavens my head I bow,
see the earth and ocean hang below,
I am seiiVl with horror and affright,
my own heart misgives me at the sight,
ghty downfal steeps the evening stage,
steady reins must curb the horses* rage.
ys herself has fear'd to see me driv'n
n headlong from the precipice of heav'n.
ies, consider what impetuous force
is stars and planets in a different course*
Borne back by all Die current of the eky.
Bui bow conld jr« miit the othe that roll
In advene whirls, and stern the rapid pole'
Bnt yon, perhaps, may bop* for pleasing- woods,
And stately domes, and dties filld with god*;
While through a thousand a— your pragma fa.
Where forms of starry monsters stock the skies:
For, should yon hit the di
The Ball withi
Next him the b\.„ ...._..._ ...._._
And neat, (he Iiotfi gnmiing vfaaffbisng:
The ScnrpioTt'9 clam here clasp a wide extent;
And here the Crab'i in latex el— pa are beat.
Nor would yon find it easy to compose 1
The mettled steeds, when from theirnostrila Bowl f
Tiie torching fire that in their entnihi glows. \
E*'n I their headstrong rbry scarce restrain,
When they grow warn and restive to the rein.
Let not my son a fatal gift require ;
But, oh ! in time recal your rash desire.
You ask a gift that may your parent tell,
Let these my tears your parentage reveal.
And learn a father from a father's care : 1
Look on my face ; or if my heart lay bare, J
Conld you bat look you'd read the father there. J
Choose oat a gift from seas, or earth, or skies,
For open to your wish all nature Bes;
Only decline this one nneqnal task,
For 'tis a mischief, not a gift, yon ask.
You ask * real mischief, Fbneton!
Nay hang not thus about my neck, ray son :
I erant your wish, and Styx has heard are vaiee;
Choose what too will, hot make a wiser choice.'
ri ui gviu.
light, J
right; >
Book f. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 81
Thus, did the god the' unwary youth advise,
But he still longs to travel through the skies :
When the fond father, (for in vain he pleads)
At length to the Vulcanian chariot leads ;
A golden axle did the work uphold,
Gold was the beam, the wheels were orb'd with gold.
The spokes in rows of silver pleas'd the sight,
The seat with party-colour'd gems was bright
Apollo shin'd amid the glare of light.
The youth with secret joy the work surveys,
When now the moon disclos'd her purple rays :
The stars were fled ; for Lucifer bad chas'd
The stars away, and fled himself at last.
Soon as the father saw the rosy morn,
And the moon shining with a Wuater horn,
He bid the nimble Hours, without delay,
Bring forth the steeds; the nimble Hours obey :
From their full racks the generous steeds retire.
Dropping ambrosial foams, and snorting fire.
Still anxious for his son, the god of day,
To make him proof against the burning ray,
His temples with celestial ointment wet,
Of sovereign virtue to repel the heat ;
Then fix'd the beamy circle on his head,
And fetchM a deep foreboding sigh, and said,
* Take this at least, this last advice, my son ;
Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on :
The coursers of themselves will run too fast,
Your art must be, to moderate their haste.
Drive 'em not on directly through the skies ;
But where the zodiac's winding circle lies,
Along the midmost cone ; but sally forth
Nor to the distant -south, nor stormy north*
f
8* OYIB'S METAMOUl'HOseS. Botk 1
The hones' hoofe a beaten back will show,
Bat neither mount too high, nor sink too low,
That no new fires, or heaven, or earth iniert ;
Keep the midway, the middle way it best.
Nor where in radiant folds the serpent twines,
Direct your coarse, nor where the altar shhsea.
Shan both extremes ; the rest let Fortune guide,
And better tar thee than thyself provide!
See, while I apeak, the shade) disperse away, "
Aurora gives, the promise of a day ; J
I'm call'd, nor can I make a longer stay.
.Snatch up the reins ; or still the' attempt forsake
And not my chariot, but my counsel take,
While yet securely on the earth yen stand ;
Nor touch the horses with too rash a hand.
Let me alone to light the world, while yon
Enjoy those hcains which you may safely view.'
He spoke in vain ; the youth with active beat
And sprightly vigour vaults into the seat ;
And joys to hold foe reins, and fondly gives
Those thanks his father with remorse receives.
Meanwhile the restless horses neigh'd aloud,
Breathing out fire, and pawing where they stood
Tethys, not knowing what had past, gave way,
And all the waste of heaven before 'eoi lay.
They spring together out, and swiftly bear
The flying youth through clouds and yielding sir;
With wiogy speed outstrip the eastern wind.
And leave the breezes of the morn behind.
The vouch was light, nor could he fill the seat,
Or poise foe chariot with its wonted weight:
But as at sea the1 unballas**d vessel rides,
Cast In and fro, the sport of winds and tides;
}
Book t. OVID'9 METAMORPHOSES. £5
So in the bounding chariot toss*d on high,
The youth is hurried headlong through the sky.
Soon as the steeds perceive it, they forsake
Their stated course, and leave the beaten track.
The youth was in amaze, nor did he know
Which way to turn the reins, or where to go ;
Nor would the horses, had he known, obey.
Then the seven stars first felt Apollo's ray,
And wished to dip in the forbidden sea.
The folded serpent next the frozen pole,
Stiff and benumb'd before, began to roll,
Andtag'd with inward heat, and threaten'd war,
And shot a redder light from every star ;
Nay, and 'tis said, Bootes too, that fain [wain.
Thou wouldst have fled, though cumber'd with thy
The* unhappy youth then, bending down has head,
Saw earth and ocean far beneath him spread :
His colour chang'd, he startled at the sight,
And his eyes darkened by too great a light.
Now could he wish the fiery steeds untried,
His birth obscure, and his request deny'd ;
Now would lie Merops for his father own,
And quit bis boasted kindred to the Sun.
So fares the pilot, when his ship is tost
In troubled seas, and all its steerage lost;
He gives her to the winds, and in despair
Seeks his last refuge in the gods and pray'r.
What could he do i his eyes if backward cast,
Find a long path be had already past ;
If forward, still a longer path they find ;
Both he compares, and measures in his mind ;
And sometimes casts an eye upon the east,
AiH sometimes looks on the forbidden west.
f
B4 OVID'l METAMORPHOSES. Aft**
The horses' names he knew not in the fright,
Nor would he loose the reins, nor could btssw^
'em right
Now all the horrors of the heavens he spies, T.
And monstrous shadows of prodigious sue, t
That, deck'd with stance scattered o'er thestin^
There is a place above, where Scorpio bent
In tail and arms swrounds a vast extent j
In a wide circuit of the heavens he ahum.
And fills the space of two celestial signs.
Soon as the youth beheld him, vex'd with ban,
Brandish his sting, and in his poison sweat,
Half-dead with sudden fear he drop'4 the ids*, „
The horses felt 'em loose upon their manes,
And, flying out through all the plains above,
Ran uncontroU'd where'er their rury drove;
Rush'd on the stars, and through a pathless way
Of unknown regions hurried on the day :
And now above, and now below they flew,
And near the earth the burning chariot drew.
Tin 1 1 In ilinji ■ ■ hi iiifiiiiun Hii wnn(liiiiii|SMsf
Beholds her brother's steeds beneath her own ;
The highlands smoke, cleft by the piercing rajs.
Or clad with woods, in their own fuel bias*.
Next o'er the plains, where ripen'd harvests snm*/
The running conflagration spreads below.
But these are trivial ills : whole cities bun,
And peopled kingdoms into ashes turn.
The mountains kindle as the car draws near,
Athos and Traolus red with fires appear;
CEagrian Haernus, (then a single name)
And virgin Helicon increase the flame ;
Taurus and (Ete glare amid the sky,
And Ida, spite of all her fountains, dry ;
I '
i
i- ■ ■
I METAMORPHOSES. . 85
, and Cithaeron, glow,
longer cloth'd in snow ;
ns, and Parnassus sweat,
rith redoubled heat
•ugh her hoary regions warm'd,
;r native frost was ann'd.
es the towering Apennine,
1 proud Olympus, shine;
rag-extended Alps aspire,
e continued range of fire,
youth, where'er bb eyes could j [:
se around him burn : -y '
a blaze ; nor could be bear
s and the scorching air,
r, as from a furnace, flow'd;
-tree beneath him glow'd :
ng clouds that round him broke,
shes, hovering in the smoke, *
the horses drove; nor knew
a drove, or where he flew. \
y say, the swarthy Moor begun
», and blacken in the sun.
of all her moisture drain'd,
waste, a wild of sand.
s lament their empty urns,
' silver Dirce, mourns,
wasted spring bewails,
s whilst Amymone fails.
drain'd from every distant coa
igh fix'd in ice, was lost
id Lycormas roar,
ed to be burn'd once more.
i
j
£6 OVID'S METAMORPHOSEI. ifesfc t
« ■
The fam'd Mscander, that unwearied strays
Through mazy windings, smokes in every maze.
From bis lov'd Babylon Euphrates flics; 1
The big-swoln Ganges and the Danube rise >
In thickening fumes, am' iarken half the skies. J
In flames Ismenos and the Phasis rolfd,
And Tagus, floating in his melted gold.
The swan?, that on Cayster often tried
Their tuneful songs, now sung their last and died.
The frighted Nile ran off, and under ground
Conceal'd his head, nor can it yet be found :
"His seven divided currents all are dry,
And where they row'd, seven gaping trenches lie:
No more the Rhine or Rhone their course mainta*,
Nor Tiber, of his promis'd empire vain.
The ground, deep-cleft, admits the dazzling rty
And startles Pluto with the fla*h of day.
The seas shrink in, and to the sight disclose
Wide naked plains, where once their billows rotti
Their rocks are all discovered, and increase
The number of the scattered Cyclades.
The fish in shoals about the bottom creep,
Nor longer dares the crooked dolphin leap :
Gasping for breath, the* unshapen Phoce die,
And on the boiling wave extended lie.
Nereus and Poris, with her . irgin train,
Seek out the last recesses of the main ;
Beneath unfathomable depths they faint,
And secret in their gloomy caverns pant.
>'ern Neptune thrice above the waves upheld
His face, and thrice was by the flames repcH'd.
The Earth ait length, on every side embrae'd
M ith scaldiug seas that floated rornid her waist,
i
Book f . OVID'S METAMORPHOSE!. 8?
When now she felt the springs and rivers come,
Ind crowd within the hollow of her womb,
Jp-lifted to the heavens her blasted head,
knd clap'd her hand upon her brows, and said;
But first; impatient of the sultry heat,
Junk deeper down, and sought a cooler seat :)
' If you, great king of gods, my death approve,
knd I deserve it, let me die by Jove ;
f I must perish by the force of fire,
Ot me transfix'd with thunderbolts expire,
tee, whilst I speak, my breath the vapours choke*/
[For now her face lay wrapt in clouds of smoke.)
See my sim/d hair, behold my faded eye,
knd witheril face, where heaps of cinders lie !
Ind does the plough for this my body tear?
this the reward for all the fruits I bear,
^ortur'd with rakes, and harass'd all the year ?
*hat herbs for cattle daily I renew,
nd food for man, and frankincense for you f
at grant me guilty; what has Neptune done ?
hy are his waters boiling in the sun?
te wavy empire, which by lot was giv'n,
ry does it waste, and further shrink from heav'n?
I, nor he, your pity can provoke,
your own heavens ; the heavens begin to smoke !
old once the sparkles catch those bright abodes,
traction seizes on the heavens and gods ;
s becomes unequal to his freight,
almost faints beneath the glowing weight,
aven, and earth, and sea, together burn,
mst again hit j their chaos turn,
r some speedy cure, prevent our fate,
ucconr nature, ere it be too late.'
88 OVID'S METAMORFHOSE*. Bit*
She ceas'd ; for, chok'd with vapours rood 1
spread,
Down to the deepest shades she souk her bead
Jove caH'd to witness every power above,
And ev'n the god whose son the chariot drove,
That what he acts he is compell'd to do,
Or universal rain most ensue.
Straight he ascends the high ethereal throne,
From whence he us'd to dart his thnnder dowa
From whence his showers and storms he ns'd to po
But now could meet with neither storm nor shot
Then, aiming at the youth, with lifted hand.
Full at his head he burl'd the fbrky brand,
In dreadful thunderings. Thus, the* almighty i
Suppressed the raging of the fires with fire.
At once from life and from the chariot drivfc
The* ambitious boy fell thunderstruck from bow
The horses started with a sudden bound,
And flung the reins and chariot to the ground :
The studded harness from their necks they broJ
Here fell a wheel, and here a silver spoke;
Here were the beam and axle torn away j p
And scattered o'er the earth the shining fragme
The breathless Phaeton, with naming hair,
Shot from the chariot like a falling star,
That in a summer's evening from the top
Of heaven drops down, or seems at least to dn
Till on the Po his blasted corpse was burl'd,
Far from his country, in the western world.
PHAETON'S SISTERS TRANSFORMED INTO TRBJ
The Letian nymphs came round him, and, amaf
On the dead youth transnVd with thunder gait
•fc S. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 89
I, whilst yet smoking from the bolt ke lay,
shattered body to a tomb convey,
1 o'er the tomb an epitaph devise ;
tre he, who drove the tan's bright chariot^nes j
father's fiery steeds he coald not guide,
in the glorious enterprise he died.'
polio hid his lace and phVd for grief;
, if the story may deserve belief
space of one whole day is said to ran,
n morn to wonted even, without a sua:
burning rains, with a fainter ray,
ply the sun, and counterfeit a day;
ly that still did nature's face disclose :
i comfort from the mighty mischief rose,
at Crymene, enraged with grief, laments,
as her grief inspires, her passion vents;
1 for her son, and frantic in her woes,
i hair dishevel'd round the world she goes,
icek where'er his body might be cast ;
on the borders of the Po at last
name inscrib'd on the new tomb appears:
dear dear name she bathes in flowing tears;
gs o'er the tomb, unable to depart,
hugs the marble to her throbbing heart,
er daughters too lament, and sigh, and mourn,
roitless tribute to their brother's urn)
beat their naked bosoms, and complain,
call aloud for Phaeton in vain:
he long night their mournful watch they keep,
aH the day stand round the tomb and weep,
mr times revolving, the full moon return'd;
rag the mother and the daughters moura'd :
n now the eldest, Pbaetuusa, strove
est her weary limbs, but could not move;,
•K) OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Ifofcf.
Lampetia would have belp'd her, bat she found
Herself withheld, and rooted to the ground ;
A third in wild affliction, aa she grieves,
Would rend her hair, bat fills her hands with leans;
One sees her thighs transform^, another views
Her arms shot out, and branching into boughs.
And now their legs, and breasts, and bodies, stari
Crusted with bark, and hardening into wood;
But still above were female heads display'd,
And mouths, that call'd the mother to their aid.
What could, alas ! the weeping mother do? )
From this to that with eager haste she flew, f
And kiss'd her sprouting daughters as they grew. )
She tears the bark that to each body cleaves,
And from their verdant fingers strips the leaves:
The blood came trickling, where she tore away
The leaves and bark : the maids were heard to ssy,
' Forbear, mistaken parent, oh ! forbear;
A wounded daughter in each tree yon tear ;
Farewell for ever.' Here the bark increas'd,
Clos'd on their faces, and their words snppresrt.
Thejiew-made trees in tears of amber run,
Which, harden'd into value by the sun,
Distil for ever on the streams below :
The limpid streams their radiant treasure show,
Mix'd in the sand ; whence the rich drops convey^
Shine in the dress of the bright Latian maid.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF CYCNUS INTO A SWAI.
■
Cycnus beheld the nymphs transform'd, allied
To their dead brother, on the mortal side,
In friendship and affection nearer bound:
He left the cities and the realms he own'd,
tft METAMORPHOSE?. $i
i fields and lonely shores to range,
e thicker by the sisters' change.
bin the dismal gloom, alone,
monarch made his moan ;
ssen*d as he tried to speak,
igh a long-extended neck ;
ms to down, bis fingers meet
and shape his oary feel ;
des the wings and feathers break,
rath proceeds a blunted beak ;
into a swan wa3 tnrn'd,
nbring how his kinsman burn'd,
\ and lakes retires,
aters as oppos'd to fires.
polio in a gloomy shade
re of his brows decay'd)
r, sickens at the sight
trine, and abhors the light ;
&, that in his bosom rise,
, and overcast his eyes :
usky orb obstructs his ray,
Jim eclipse the day.
with inward griefe he pin'd,
atments to his griefs he join'd,
c'd hb office to mankind.
birth of time/ said he, ' I've bornu
ll toil, without return :
ther manage, if he dare,
, and mount the burning car;
, let Jove his fortune try,
' his murdering thunder by ;
na, perhaps, but own too late,
I not so severe a fate/
93 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. fitffc f.
The gods stand round htm,as he mourns, andprty
He would resume the conduct of the day,
Nor let the world be lost in endless night :
Jove too himself, descending from his height,
Excuses what had happened, and entreats;
Majestically mixing prayers and threats.
PrevaiTd upon at length, again he took
The harness'd steeds, that still with horror shook,
And plies 'em with the lash, and whips 'em on,
And, as he whips, upbraids 'em with his son.
THE STORY OF CALI8TO.
The day was settled in its coarse, and Jove
Walk'd the wide circuit of the heavens above.
To search if any cracks or flaws were made \
But all was safe. The earth he then survey*d,
And cast an eye on every different coast.
And every land ; but on Arcadia most.
Her fields he cloth'd, and cheer'd her blasted face
With running fountains, and with springing
No tracks of heaven's destructive fire remain,
The fields and woods revi ve, and nature smiles agaia.
But as the god walk'd to and fro the earth,
And rais'd the plants, and gave the spring its birth,
By chance a fair Arcadian nymph he view'd,
And felt the lovely charmer in bis blood.
The nymph nor spun, nor dress'd with artful pride;
Her vest was gather'd up, her hair was tied ;
Now in her hand a slender spear she bore,
Now a light quiver on her shoulders wore;
To chaste Diana from her youth inclin'd,
Tlir sprightly warriors of the wood she join'd.
Diana too the gentle huntress lov'd,
Nor was there one of all the nymphs that rov*d
ifeffc 9. OVID'S Bf ETAMORPHOf BS. 9S
O'er Msenalus amid the maiden throng,
More favoor'd once, bat favour lasts not long.
The son now shone in all its strength, and drove
The heated virgin panting to the grove;
The grove around a grateful shadow cast ;
She drOp'd her arrows, and her bow unbrae'd;
She flung herself on the cool grassy bed,
And on the painted quiver rais'd her head.
Jove saw the charming huntress unprepar'd,
Stretch'd on the verdant turf, without a guard.
' Here I am safe,' he cries, ' from Juno's eye ;
Or should my jealous queen the theft descry,
Yet would I venture on a theft like this ;
And stand her rage for such, for such a bliss !'
Diana's shape and habit straight he took, }
Soften'd his brows, and smooth'd his awful look, >
And mildly in a female accent spoke : )
4 How fares my girl ? How went the morning chase ? '
To whom the virgin, starting from the grass,
' All hail, bright deity, whom I prefer
To Jove himself, though Jove himself were here.'
The god was nearer than she thought, and heard,
Well pleasM, himself before himself prefer'd.
He then salutes her with a warm embrace ;
And, ere she half had told the morning chase,
With love inflam'd, and eager on his bli^s,
Smother*d her words, and stop'd her with a kiss.
His kisses with unwonted ardour glow'd,
Nor could Diana's shape conceal the god.
The virgin did whate'er a virgin cou'd ;
(Sure Juno must have pardon'd, had she view'd)
With all her might against his force she strove ;
But how can mortal maids contend with Jove ?
94 OVIB'S METAMORPHOSE?. B*k&
Posscss'd at Length of what his heart denVd,'
Back to his heavens the' exalting god retif d.
The lovely huntress, rising from the grass,
With downcast eyes, and with a blushing free,
By shame confounded, and by fear dismayed,
Flew from the covert of the guilty shade;
And almost, in the tumult of her mind,
Left her forgotten bow and shafts behind.
But now Diana, with a sprightly train
Of quiver'd virgins, bounding o'er the plain,
CalPd to the nymph ; the nymph began to fear
A second fraud, a Jove disguis'd in her ;
But, when she saw the sister-nymphs, suppresi'd
Her rising fears, and mingled with the rest
How in the look does conscious guilt appear!
Slowly she mov'd, aud loiterM in the rear;
Nor lightly trip'd, nor by the goddess ran,
As once she us'd, the foremost of the train.
Her looks were flush'd, and sullen was her mien,
That sure the virgin-goddess (had she been
Aught but a virgin) must the guilt have seen.
'Tis said the nympbs saw all, and guess*d aright:
And now the moon had nine times lost her light,
When Dian, fainting in the mid-day beams,
Foimd a cool covert, and refreshing streams,
That in soft murmurs through the forest flow'd,
And a smooth bed of shining gravel showM.
A covert so obscure, and streams so clear,
The goddess prais'd : ' And now no spies are
Let's strip, my gentle maids, and wash ;' she
Pleas'd with the motion, every maid complies;
Only the blushing huntress stood confus'd,
And form'd delays, and her delays excus'd ;
lien,)
a. 1
Book & OVID'8 METAMORPHOSES*. 95
In Tain excus'd : her fellows round her press'd',
And the reluctant nymph by force undressed.
The naked huntress all her shame reveal'd,
In vain her hands the pregnant womb conceal'd ;
' Begone !' the goddess cries with stern disdain, )
' Begone! nor dare the hallo w*d stream to stain:' J
She fled, for ever banish'd from the train. )
This Juno heard, who long had watch'd her time
To punish the detested rival's crime;
The time was come ; for, to enrage her more,
A lovely boy the teeming rival bore.
The goddess cast a furious look, aud cried,
* It is enough ! I'm fully satisfied !
This boy shall stand a living mark, to prove
My husband's baseness, and the strumpet's love ;
But vengeance shall awake: those guilty charms
That drew the Thunderer from Juno's arms,
No longer shall their wonted force retain,
Nor please the god, nor make the mortal vain.'
This said; her hand within her hair she wound,
Swung her to earth, and drag'd her on the ground :
The prostrate wretch lifts up her arms in praj'r;
Her arms grow shaggy, and deform'd with hair,
Her nails are sharpen* d into pointed claws,
Her hands bear half her weight, and turn to paws ;
Her lips, that once could tempt a god, begin
To grow distorted in an ugly grin :
And, lest the supplicating brute might reach
The ears of Jove, she was depriv'd of speech :
Her surly voice through a hoarse passage came
In savage sounds ; her mind was still the same.
The furry monster fix'd her eyes above,
And beav'd her new unwieldy paws to Jove,
96 ovid** inumrBMii. Bm
And beg'd his »id with inward groan ; and tt
She could not call him false, ifae r**""gh» Urn
How did she fear to lodge in wooda aloac,
And haunt the fields and meadow*, once her .
How often would the deep-mouth'd dog* pan
Whilst from her hounds the frighted huuliemi
How did the fear her fellow brutes, and ihu
The ■haggj bear, though now herself waa on
Fierce at the chase, and in the forest bold ;
When, u be beat the wood* m quest of prey,
He rhane'd to rouse hit mother where the mj
She knew her son, and kept him in her tight.
And fondly aaz'd i the boy wan in a fright,
And aim'd a pointed arrow at her b re ait.
And would have slain his mother in the hi ml
But Jotc forbad, and snatch'd 'em through tl
In whirlwind! up to heaven, and fix'd 'em the
Where the new constellations nightly rise,
And add a lustre to the northern ikies.
When Juno saw the rival in her height,
Spangled with atari, and circled round with 1
She sought old Ocean in his deep abodes,
And Tethys, both rever'd among the god*.
They ask what bring* her there : ' Ne'er *ak,'
' What brings me here, heaven U no place fin
Yc-ull see, when night has eovef d all thing* o
Jove's starry bastard, and triumphant whore,
Usurp the heavens; you'll see 'em proudly roil
Id their new orb*, and brighten all the pole.
And who shall now on Jimo1* altar* wait,
When those she hate* grow greater by her hal
B*ok t. OVID'S VETAMORFHOflES. 97
I on the nymph a brutal form hnpress'd,
Jove to a goddess has transrorm'd the beast;
This, this was all my weak revenge could do :
Bnt let the god bis chaste amours pursue,
And, as be acted after Id's rape,
Restore the* adoltress to her former shape ;
Then may he cast bis Juno off, and lead
The great Lycaon's offspring to bis bed.
Bnt yon, ye venerable powers, be kind ;
And, if my wrongs a due resentment find,'
Receive not in your waves their setting beams,
Nor let the glaring strumpet taint your streams.'
The goddess ended, and her wish was giv'n ;
Back she return'd in triumph op to heav*n ;
Her gaudy peacocks drew her through the skies :
Their tails were spotted with a thousand eyes ;
The eyes of Argus on their tails were rang'd ;
At the same time the raven's colour chant/d.
THE STORY OF COROH IS, AND BIRTH OF
JSSCULAPIUS.
The raven once in snowy plumes was dress'd,
White as the whitest dove's unsullied breast,
Fair as the guardian of the capitol,
Soft as the swan; a large and lovely fowl;
His tongoe,his prating tongue^iad changed him quite
To sooty blackness, from the purest white.
The story of his change shall here be told.
In Tbessaly there hVd a nymph of old,
Coronis nam'd ; a peerless maid she shin* d,
Confessed the fairest of the fairer kind.
Apollo lovM her, till her guilt he knew,
While true she was, or whilst he thought her true.
96 OVID'S mTAMORPHOm. Bf
But his aim bird the men cbanc'd to find
The false one with a lecret rival join'd.
Coronis beg'd him to suppress the tale,
Bat could not with repeated prayers prevail.
His milk-white pinions to the god he plied ;
The busy daw flew with him, side by side.
And by a thousand teasing questions drew
The' important secret from him as they flew.
The daw gave honest counsel, though despii'c
And, tedious in her tattle, thus advis'd :
' Stay, silly bird, the' lll-natur'd task refine
Nor be the bearer of unwelcome news.
Be wam'd by my example : yon discern
What now I am, and what I was shall learn.
My foolish honesty was all my crime ;
Then "hear my story. — Once upon a time,
The two-shap'd Ericthonius had his birth
( Without a mother) from the teeming earth ;
Minerva nurs'd him, and the infant laid
Within a chest, of twining osiers made.
The daughters of king Cecrops undertook
To guard the chest, commanded not to too
On what was hid within : I stood to see
The charge obey'd, perch'd on a neighbouring
The sisters Pandrosos and Herse keep
The strict command ; Aglauros needs would |
And saw the monstrous infirnt in ■ fright ;
And call'd her Bisters to the hideous sight:
A hoy's soft shape did to the waist prevail,
But the boy ended in a dragon's tail.
I told the stern Minerva all Unit pasa'd;
But for my pains, discarded and disgrae'd,
The frowning goddess drove me from her ligt
And for her fa vonrite chose the bird of night.
Book % of id's metamorphose*. 99
Be then no tell-tale ; for I think my wrong
Enough to teach a bird to hold her tongue,
1 But yon, perhaps, may think I was remov'd,
As never by the heavenly maid belov'd ;
But I was lov'd ; ask Pallas if I lie ;
Though Pallas bate me now, she won't deny :
For I, whom in a feathered shape you view,
Was once a maid, (by heaven ! the story's true)
-A blooming maid, and a king's daughter too.
A crowd of lovers own'd my beauty's charms ;
My beauty was the cause of all my harms ;
Neptune, as on the shores I wont to rove,
ObseiVd me in my walks, and fell in love.
He made his courtship, he confess'd his pain,
And offer'd force, when all his arts were vain.
Swift he pursu'd : I ran along the strand,
Till, spent and wearied on the sinking sand,
I shriek'd aloud; with cries I fill'd the air
To gods and men ; nor god nor man was there ;
A virgin-goddess heard a virgin's pray'r :
For, as my arms I lifted to the skies,
I saw black feathers from my fingers rise ;
I strove to fling my garment on the ground ;
My garment turn'd to plumes, and girt me round :
My hands to beat my naked bosom try ;
Nor naked bosom now nor hands had I :
Lightly I trip'd, nor weary as before
Sunk in the sand, but skim'd along the shore ;
Till, rising on my wings, I was prefer'd
To be the chaste Minerva's virgin-bird :
Wefer'd in vain ! I now am in disgrace :
Nyctimene, the owl, enjoys my place.
( On ijer incestuous life I need not dwell,
(In Lesbos still the horrid tale they tell)
100 OVID'S METAKOt
And of ber dire amoun you
Par which the now does pea
Thar, conscious of her sltan*
Ami lot H the gloomy coveri
Tbe birds, wbeie'et she flulti
The booting wretch, and drii
TLo raven, urg'd by such i:
Grew passionate, it seems, ai
And cont'd the harmless daw
The raven to ber injur'd patr
And found him out, and told
Of false Coronia and the favo
The god was wroth ; the c
The wreath bis head, tie bar]
His silver bow and feather'd
And lodg'd an arrow in the t
That had so often to bis own
Down fell the wounded nymi
And fin II il his arrow- reeking
And, weltering in ber blood,
' Alt, cruel god I though I ha
What has, alas ! my unborn i
That lie should rail, and two
This said, in agonies she fete
The god dissolves in pity at
He hates the bird that made
And hates himself for what h
Tbe feather'd shaft, tbat sent
And his own hand that sent i
Fain would he heal the woiin
And tries the compass of his
Soon ai be taw the lovely ny
Tbe pile made ready, and tin
Hook 9. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 101
With sighs and groans her obsequies he kept,
And, if a god cooW weep, the god had wept.
Jfer corps he kiss*d, and heavenly incense brought,
And soIennnVd the death himself had wrought
But lest his offspring should her fate partake,
Spite of the' immortal mixture in his make,
He rip'd her womb, and set the child at large,
» And gave him to the centaur Chiron's charge ;
Then, in his fury, Wack'd the raven o'er,
And bad him prate Hi his white plumes no more.
OCTROK TRANSFORMED TO A MARS.
Old Chiron took the babe with secret jo^,
Proud of the charge of the celestial boy :
' His daughter too, whom on the sandy shore
The nymph Chariclo to the Centaur bote,
With hair dishevefd on her shoulders, came
To see the child ; Ocyroe was her name;
She knew her father's arts, and could rehearse
The depths of prophecy in sounding verse.
Once as the sacred infant she •surveyed,
The god was kindled in the raving maid,
And thus she utter' d her prophetic tale :
* Hail, great physician of the world, all hail !
Hail, mighty infant ! who in years to come
Shalt heal the nations, and defraud the tomb ;
Swift be thy growth i thy triumphs unconfin'd !
Make kingdoms thicker, and increase mankind.
Thy daring art shall animate the dead,
And draw the thunder on thy guilty head :
Then shalt thou die, but from the dark abode
Rise up victorious, and be twice a god.
And thou, my sire, not destin'd by thy birth
To turn to dust, and mix with common earth
VOl. I. H
%\)t OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Ifofc t
How wilt thou toss, and rave, tod king to die;
And quit thy claim to immortality ;
When thou shalt feel enrag/d with inward pains,
The Hydra's venom rankling in thy veins !
The gods, in pity, shall contract thy date,
And give thee over to the power of fate.*
Thus entering into destiny, the maid
The secrets of offended Jove betray'd :
More had she still to say ; but now appears
Oppressed with sobs and sighs, and drown'd in ban.
* My voice,' says she, * is gone, my language faik;
Through every limb my kindred shape prevails:
Why did the god tins ratal gift impart,
And with prophetic raptures swell my heart?
What new desires are these ? I long to pace
O'er flowery meadows, and to feed on grass;
I hasten to a brute, a maid no more ;
But why, alas ! am I transform'd all o'er ?
My sire does half a human shape retain,
And in his upper parts preserve the man.'
Her tongue no more distinct complaints afford*,
But in shrill accents and mis-shapen words
Pours forth such hideous waitings, as declare
The human form confounded. in the mare;
Till by degrees accomplished in the beast,
She neigh'd outright, and all the steed exprenU
Her stooping body on her hands is borne ;
Her hands are turn'd to hoofs, and shod in bom;
Iter yellow tresses ruffle in a mane,
And in a flowing tail she frisks her train.
The mare was finish'd in her voice and look,
And a new name from the new ngnre took.
r'd.£
Book t. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 103
THE TRANSFORMATION OF B ATT US TO A TOUCH-
STONE.
Sore wept the Centaur, and to Phoebus pray'd ;
Bnt how could Phoebus give the Centaur aid ?
Degraded of his power by angry Jove,
In Elis then a herd of beeves he drove ;
And wielded in his hand a staff of oak,
And o'er his shoulders threw the shepherd's cloke ;
On seven compacted reeds he us'd to play,
And on his rural pipe to waste the day.
As once attentive to his pipe he play*d,
The crafty Hermes from the god convey*d
A drove, that separate from their fellows stray'd.
The theft an old insidious peasant view'd,
(They calTd him Battus in the neighbourhood)
Hir'd by a wealthy Pylian prince to feed
His favourite marcs, and watch the generous breed.
The thievish god suspected him, and took
The hind aside, and thus in whispers spoke :
' Discover not the theft, whoe'er thou be,
And take that milk-white heifer for thy fee.'
' Go, stranger,' cries the clown, ' securely on,
That stone shall sooner tell/ and show'd a stone.
The god withdrew, but straight return'd again,
In speech and habit like a country swain ;
And cries out, * Neighbour, hast thou seen a stray
Of bullocks and of heifers pass this way ?
In the recovery of my cattle join ;
A bullock and a heifer shall be thine.'
The peasant quick replies, * You'll find 'em there
In yon dark vale ;' and in the vale they were.
10 1 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. B*k 1
The doable bribe had his fake heart beguuM :
The god, successful in the trial, smiPd ;
* And dost tbou thus betray myself to me?
Me to myself dost thou betray P says he :
Then to a touchstone turns the faithless spy j
And in his name records his infamy.
THE STORY OF AGLAUROS TRANSFORMED IETO A
STATUE.
This done, the god flew up on high, and part
O'er lofty Athens, by Minerva gracVi,
And wide Munichia; whilst his eyes survey
All the vast region that beneath hhn lay.
Twas now the feast, when each Athenian nasi
Her yearly homage to Minerva paid;
In canisters, with garlands eover'd o'er,
High on their heads, their mystic gifts they here:
And now, returning in a solemn train,
The troop of shining virgins fill'd the nana !
The god well plcas'd beheld the pompous sfasWj
And saw the bright procession pass below;
Then veer'd about, and took a wheeling flight.
And hover'd o'er them. As the spreading kite,
That smells the slaughter^ victim from on rngij
Flies at a distance, if the priests are nigh,
And sails around, and keeps it in her eye;
So kept the god the virgin quire in view,
And in slow winding circles round them flew.
As Lucifer excels the meanest star,
Or, as the full-orb'd Phoebe, Lucifer ;
So much did Herse all the rest outvie,
And gave a grace to die solemnity. ■*!
I
Botik 2. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 105
Hermes was nVd, as in the clouds he hong :
So the cold bullet, that with fury flung
From Balearic engines mounts on high,
Glows in the whirl, and burns along the sky.
At length he pitched upon the ground, and show*d
The form divine, the features of a god.
He knew their virtue o'er a female heart,
And yet he strives to better them by art.
He hangs his mantle loose, and sets to show
The golden edging on the seam below ;
Adjusts his flowing curis, and in his hand
Waves, with an air, the steep-procuring wand ;
The glittering sandals to his feet applies,
And to each heel the well-trimm'd pinion ties.
His ornaments with nicest art displayed,
He seeks the* apartment of the royal maid.
The roof was all with poksh'd ivory tioM,
That, richly mix'd, in clouds of tortoise sbin'd.
Three rooms, contiguous, in a range were placed,
The midmost by the beauteous Herse grac'd ;
Her virgin sisters lodged on either side.
Aglauros first the* approaching god descry'd,
And, as he cross'd her chamber, ask'd bis name,
And what his business was, and whence he came ?
* I come/ replied the god, ' from heaven, to woo
Your sister, and to make an aunt of you ;
I am the son and messenger of Jove ;
My name is Mercury, my business love ;
Do you, kind damsel, take a lover's part,
And gain admittance to your sister's heart.'
She atari! him in the face with looks amas'd,
As when she on Minerva's secret gas'd,
And asks a mighty treasure for her hire;
And till be brings it makes the god retire.
\
106 OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. JBSSkS.
Minerva griev'd to see the nymph succeed;
And now remembering the late impious deed,
When, disobedient to her strict command,
She toucbM the chest with sjLonbaUow'd haadj
In big-swoln sighs her inward rage expreafd,
That heaved the rising aegis on her breast ;
Then sought oat Envy in her dark abode,
DefiPd with ropy gore and clots of Mood:
Shnt from the winds and from the wholesome stia,
In a deep vale the gloomy dungeon lies,
Dismal and cold, where not a beam of tight
Invades the winter or disturbs the night
Directly to the cave her course she steerM,
Against the gates her martial lance she reuM,
The gates flew open, and the fiend appearU
A poisonous morsel in her teeth she cbew'd,
And gorged the flesh of vipers for her food.
Minerva, loathing, turn'd away her eye;
The hideous monster, rising heavily,
Came stalking forward with a sullen pace,
And left her mangled offals on the place.
Soon as she saw the goddess gay and bright,
She fetch'd a groan at such a cheerful sight
Livid and meagre were her looks, her eye
In foul distorted glances turn'd awry ;
A hoard of gall her inward parts possess'd,
And spread a greenness o'er her cankered breast}
Her teeth were brown with rust, and from h*
tongue,
In dangling drops, the stringy poison hung.
She never smiles but when the wretched weep.
Nor lulls her malice with a moment's sleep,
Restless in spite, while watchful to destroy,
She pines and sickens at another's joy ;
Book t. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES*. i(l4
Foe to herself, distressing and distressed,
She bears her own tormentor in her breast
The goddess gave (for she abhor'd her sight)
A short command : ' To Athens speed thy flight,
On curs'd Aglauros try thy utmost art,
And fix thy rankest venoms irf her heart'
This said, her spear she pnsh'd against the ground,
And mounting from it with an active bound
Flew off to heaven. The hag with eyes askew1
Look'd up, and muttered curses as she flew* ;
For sore she fretted, and began to grieve
At the success which she herself must give.
Then takes her staff hung round with wreaths of*
thorn,
And sails along, in a black whirlwind borne,
O'er fields and flowery meadows : where she steers
Her baneful course a mighty blast appears,
Mildews and blights ; the meadows are defac'd,
The fields, the flowers,and the whole year laid waste.
On mortals next and peopled towns she falls,
And breathes a burning plague among their walls.
When Athens she beheld, for arts renown'd,
With peace made happy, and with plenty crown'd ;
Scarce could the hideous fiend from tears forbear,
To find out nothing that deserv*d a tear.
The1 apartment now she enter'd, where at rest
Aghtttros lay, with gentle sleep oppressed j
To execute Minerva's dire command,
She strok'd the virgin with her cankered band,
Then prickly thorns into her breast convey'd,
That stung to madness the devoted maid ;
Her subtle venom still improves the smart,
Frets in the bltfod, and festers in the heart
106 OVID'S METAMORPHOf Et. B§tk 2.
To make the work more tore, a scene snedrewj
And plac'd before the dreaming virgin's view
Her sister's marriage, and her glorious fate ;
The* imaginary bride appears in state;
The bridegroom with unwonted beauty glows,
For Envy magnifies whatever she shows.
Foil of the dream, Aghuiros pin'd away
In tears all night, in darkness all the day ;
Consum'd like ice, that just begins to run
When feebly smitten by the distant sun;
Or like unwholesome weeds, that set on fire
Are slowly wasted, and in smoke expire :
Giv'n up to envy (for in every thought
The thorns, the venom, and the vision wrought)
Oft did she call on death, as oft decreed,
Rather than see her sister's wish succeed,
To tell her awful rather what had pass'd ;
At length before the door herself she cast ;
And, sitting on the ground with sullen pride,
A passage to the lovesick god denied.
The god caress'd, and for admission prayM,
And sooth'd in softest words the' envenom'd maiL
In vain he sooth'd : ' Begoue!' the maid replies,
' Or here I keep my seat and never rise.'
' Then keep thy seat for ever,' cries the god,
And touch'd the door wide opening to bis rod.
Fain would she rise and stop him, but she found
Her trunk too heavy to forsake the ground ;
Her joints are all benumb'd, her hands are pale,
And marble now appears in every nail.
As when a cancer in the body feeds,
And gradual death from limb to limb proceeds,
So does the chilness to each vital part
Spread by degrees, and creeps into her heart;
I
Botik & OVI&'S METAMORPHOSES, 109
Till hardening every where, and speechless grown,
She sits unmov'd, and freezes to a stone.
Bat still her envious hoe and sullen mien
Are in the sedentary figure seen. .
europa's rape.
When now the god hk fury had allay'd.
And taken vengeance of the stubborn maid ;
From where the bright Athenian turrets rise
He mounts aloft, and re-ascends the skies.
Jove saw him enter the sublime abodes,
And as he mix'd among the crowd of gods,
Beckon*d him out, and drew him from the rest,
And in soft whispers thus his will expressed:
1 My trusty Hermes, by whose ready aid
Tuy sire's commands are through the world eonvey'd,
Resume thy wings, exert their utmost force,
And to the walls of Sidon speed thy course;
There find a herd of heifers wandering o'er
The neighbouring hill, and drive 'em to the shore/
Tims spoke the god, concealing his intent.
The trusty Hermes on his message went,
And found the herd of heifers wandering o'er
A neighbouring hill, and drove 'cm to the shore ;
Where the king's daughter, with a lovely train
Of fellow-nymphs, was sporting on the plain.
The dignity of empire laid aside,
(For love but ill agrees with kingly pride)
The ruler of the skies, the thundering god,
Who shakes the world's foundations with a nod,
Among a herd of lowing heifers ran,
Frisk'd in a bull, and bellow'd o'er the plain.
Large rolls of fat about his shoulders clung.
And from bis neck the double dewlap hung;
110 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 4.
His skin was whiter than the snow that lies
Unsullied by the breath of southern skies,
Small shining horns on his curl'd forehead stand*,
As turn'd and polish'd by the workman's hand ;
His eye-balls roll'd, not formidably bright,
Bnt gaz*d and languished with a gentle light;
His every look was peaceful, and express'd
The softness of the lover in the beast
Agenor's royal daughter, as she play'd
Among the fields, the milk-white bull survey'd,
And view'd bis spotless body with delight,
And at a distance kept him in her sight.
At length she pluck'd the rising flowers, and fed
The gentle beast, and fondly strok'd his head.
He stood well pleas'd to touch the charming fair,
But hardly could confine his pleasure there.
And now he wantons o'er the neighbouring strand,
Now rolls his body on the yellow sand,
And now, perceiving all her fears decay'd,
Comes tossing forward to the royal maid ;
Gives her his breast to stroke, and downward turns
His grizly brow, and gently stoops his horns.
In flowery wreaths the royal virgin dress'd
His bending horns, and kindly clapp'd his breast :
Till now grown wanton and devoid of fear,
Not knowing that she press'd the Thunderer,
She plac'd herself upon his back, and rode
O'er fields and meadows seated on the god.
He gently march'd along, and by degrees
Left the dry meadow and approach'd the seas,
Where now he dips his hooft and wets his thighs,
Now plunges in and carries off the prize.
The frighted nymph looks backward on the shore,1
And heats the tumbling billows round her' roar,
i
Book*. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Ill
Bat still she holds him fast ; one hand is borne
Upon his back, the other grasps a horn ;
Her train of raffling garments flies behind,
Swells in the air, and hovers in the wind.
Through storms and tempests he the virgin bore,
And lands her safe on the Dictaean shore,
Where now, in bis diviuest form array'd,
In his true shape he captivates the maid,
Who gazes on him, and with wondering eyes
Beholds the new majestic figure rise,
His glowing features and celestial light,
And all the god discovert to her sight.
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK III.
TRANSLATED BY ADDISON.
THE STORY OF CADMUS.
When now Agenor had bis daughter lost,
He sent his son to search ou every coast,
And sternly bid him to his arms restore
The darling maid, or see his face no more,
Bnt live an exile in a foreign clime ;
Thus was the father pious to a crime.
The restless youth searched all the world around;
But how can Jove in his amours be found?
When, tir'd at length with unsuccessful toil,
To shun his angry sire and native soil,
He goes a suppliant to the Delphic dome,
There asks the god what new appointed home
Should end his wanderings, and his toils relieve.
The Delphic oracles this answer give :
' Behold among the fields a lonely cow,
Unworn with yokes, unbroken to the plow ;
Mark well the place where first she lays her down,
There measure out thy walls and build thy town;
And from the guide Boeotia call the land,
In which the destin'd walls and town shall stand.'
}
Book S, OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 113
No sooner had he left the dark abode,
Big with the promise of the Delphic god,
When in the fields the fatal cow he view'd,
Nor galfd with yokes, nor worn with servitude
Her gently at a distance he pursued,
And as he walk'd aloof, in silence pray'd
To the great power whose counsels he obey'd.
Her way through flowery Panope she took.
And now, Cephisus, cross'd thy silver brook ;
When to the heavens her spacious front she rais'd,
And beflowV) thrice, then backward turning, gaz'd
On those behind, till on the destin'd place
She stoor/d, and couch*d amid the rising grass.
Cadmus salutes the soil, and gladly hails
The new-found mountains, and the nameless vales,
And thanks the gods, and turns about his eye
To see his new dominions round him lie ;
Then sends his servants to a neighbouring grove
For living streams, a sacrifice to Jove.
O'er the wide plain there rose a shady wood
Of aged trees ; in its dark bosom stood
A bushy thicket, pathless and unworn,
O'errun with brambles, and perplex'd with thorn :
Amidst the brake a hollow den was found,
With rocks and shelving arches vaulted round.
Deep in the dreary den, conceal'd from day,
Sacred to Mars, a mighty dragon lay,
Bloated with poison to a monstrous size ;
Fire broke in flashes when he glanc'd bis eyes :
His towering crest was glorious to behold,
His shoulders and his sides were scal'd with gold ;
Three tongues he brandished whenhe charged his foes;
His teeth stood jaggy in three dreadful rows.
The Tyrians in the den for water sought,
And with their urns explored the hollow vault:
!
114 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. BstltS.
From side to side their empty urns rebound, 15
And rouse the sleeping serpent with the sound. Y
Straight he bestirs him, and is seen to rise ; \
And now with dreadful hissings fills the skies, (
And darts his forky tongues, and rolbhUglarimgf
eyes. J
The Tynans drop their vessels in the fright,
All pale and trembling at the hideous sight
Spire above spire uprearM in air he stood,
And gazing round him overlooked the wood:
Then floating on the ground, in circles rell'd;
Then leap'd upon them in a mighty ibid.
Of such a bulk, and such a monstrous sire
The serpent in the polar circle lies,
That stretches over half the northern skies.
In vain the Tyrians on their arms rely,
In vain attempt to fight, in vain to fly;
All their endeavours and their hopes are vain;
Some die entangled in the winding train ;
Some arc devoured, or feel a loathsome death,
Swoln up with blasts of pestilential breath.
And now the scorching sun was mounted hifi,
In all its lustre, to the noonday sky;
When, anxious for his friends, and fill'd with cam,
To search the woods the' impatient chief prepare!
A lion's hide around his loins he wore,
The well-pois'd javelin to the field he bore,
Innr'd to blood ; the far-destroying dart ;
And, the best weapon, an undaunted heart.
Soon as the youth approach' d the fatal place,
He saw his servants breathless on the grass;
The scaly foe amidst their corps he view,d,
Basking at ease, and feasting in their blood:
* Such friends/ he cries, ' deserv'd a longer date;
But Cadmus will revenge or share their fate.'
Book 3. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 115
Then heav'd a stone, and rising to the throw,
He sent it in a whirlwind at the foe :
A tower, assaulted by so rude a stroke,
With all its lofty battlements bad shook ;
But nothing here the' unwieldy rock avails,
Rebounding harmless from the plaited scales,
That, firmly join'd, preserved him from a wound,
With native armour crusted all around.
With more success the dart unerring flew,
Which at his back the raging warrior threw ;
Amid the plaited scales it took its course,
And in the spinal marrow spent its force.
The monster hiss'd aloud, and rag'd in vain,
And writh'd his body to and fro with pain ;
He bit the dart, and wrench'd the wood away;
The point still buried in the marrow lay.
And now his rage, increasing with bis pain,
Reddens his eyes, and beats in every vein ;
Churn'd in his teeth the foamy venom rose,
Whilst from his mouth a blast of vapours flows,
Snch as the' infernal Stygian waters cast ;
The plants around him wither in the blast.
Now in a maze of rings he lies enroll'd,
Now all unravel'd, and without a fold ;
Now, like a torrent, with a mighty force
Bears down the forest in his boisterous course.
Cadmus gave back, and on the lion's spoil
Sustain'd the shock, then forc'd him to recoil ;
The pointed javelin warded off his rage :
Mad with his pains, and furious to engage,
Tjie serpent champs the steel, and bites the spear,
Till blood and venom all the point besmear.
But still the hurt he yet receiv'd was slight ;
For, while the champion with redoubled might
116 OTID'I MCTAMOKF
Strikes home the javelin, his n
Shrinks from the wound, and d
The dauntless hero still pan
And presses forward, till a km
Retards his foe, and stops him
Full in his throat he plung'd th
That in the' extended neck a \
And pierc'd the solid timber tl
Fix'd to the reeling trunk, wit
Of his huge tail he lash'd the t
Till spent with toil, and labour
He now lay twisting in the pai
Cadmus beheld him wallow
Of swimmmg poison, intermix
When suddenly a speech was fa
(The speech was hearduior wj
' Why dost thou thus with seci
Insulting man ! what thou thys
Astonish'd at the voice he stoo
And all around with inward ho
When Pallas swift descending
Pallas, the guardian of the bo!
Bids him plough up the field, i
The dragon's teeth o'er all the
Then tells the youth bow to hi
Embattled armies from the fiel
He sows the teeth at Pallas**
And flings the future people ft
The clods grow warm, and crui
And now the pointed spears ac
Now nodding plumes appear, -,
Now the broad shoulders and
O'er all the field the breathing
A growing host, a crop of mei
too*S.
Bo§k 3. OVID9 METAMORPHOSES
So through the parting stage a figu
Its body up, and limb by limb appea\
ic blow. jjv j„gt degrees, till all the man arise,
ce> And in his full proportion strikes the <
Cadmus, surprised and startled at th«
Of his new foes, prepaid himself for i
"» When one cried out, * Forbear, fond n
*> To' mingle in a blind promiscuous war.'
oond . This said, he struck his brother to the |
t>ke Himself expiring by another's wound ;
, Nor did the third his conquest long sun
J**™? Dying ere scarce he had begun to live.
The dire example ran througli all the 1
Till heaps of brothers were by brothers .
■ y The fiirrows swam in blood ; and only G\
^> Of all the vast increase were left alive.
r "SP1 Echion one, at Pallas's command,
*i Let fall the guiltless weapon from his hanc
And with the rest a peaceful treaty makes,
Whom Cadmus as his friends and partners
So founds a city on the promb'd earth,
* And gives bis new Boeotian empire birth.
Here Cadmus reigrfd, and now one wou
fflA The royal founder in his exile bless'd ; [
°Ai Long did he live within his new abodes,
F& Allied by marriage to the deathless gods ;
And, in a fruitful wife's embraces old,
A long increase of children's children told ;
But no frail man, however great or high,
ett*; Can be concluded bless'd before he die.
jv, Actaeon was the first of all his race
4e$i Who griev'd his grandsire in his borrow'd f,
,g& Condemn'd by stern Diana to bemoan
Hie branching horns, and visage not his ovi
VOL. I. I
k— «
ilo UVID'S .HfcTAMoRPHOSts. Bwkl
To shun his ouce-lov'd do&»s, to bound away,
And from their huntsman to become their prey.
\ud jet, consider why the change was wrought,
You'll find it his misfortune, not his fault;
Or, if a fault, it was the fault of chance:
For how can guilt proceed from ignorance?
TRANSFORMATION OF ACTION INTO A STAG.
In u fair chase a shady mountain stood, [blood;
UYil *:orM with name, and mark'd with trails ot
i lei e ilid the huntsmen, till the heat of day,
Cinque the stair, and luad themselves with prey,
When thus Ac tar on calling to the rest:
' My friends,' said he, * our sport is at the beat,
The sun i> his;h advanc'd, and downward *bcd*
His hurniu^ beams directly on our heads ;
Then by consent abstain from further spoife,
Call off the do^s, and gather up tfie toils;
And ere to-monow's sun begins his race,
'lake the cool mornin? to renew the chase.'
They all consent, and in a cheerful train )
The jolly huntsmen, loaden with the slain,
Return in triumph from the sultry plain. J
Down in a vale with pine and cypress clad,
Kefresh'dwith gentle winds, and brown with shade,
The chaste Diana's private haunt, there stood
Full in the centre of the darksome wood
A spacious grotto, all around o'ergrown
With hoary moss, and arc lid with pumice-stant1-
From out its rocky clefts the waters How,
And trickling swell into a lake below.
Nature had everywhere so play'd her part,
That everywhere she seem d to vie with art
Here the bright goddess, toil'd and chaf 'd with heat)
"Was wont to bathe her iu the cool retreat.
Book 3. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. il'J
Here did she now with all her train resort,
Panting with heat, and breathless from the sport ;
Her armour-bearer laid her bow aside,
Some loos'd her sandals, some her veil untied ;
Each busy nymph her proper part undress'd,
While Crocale, more handy than the rest,
Gathered her flowing hair, and in a noose
Bound it together, whilst her own hung loose.
Five of the more ignoble sort, by turns
Fetch up the water, and unlade the urns.
Now all undress'd the shining goddess stood,
When young Actaeon, wilder'd in the wood,
To the cool grot by his hard fate betrayed,
The fountains fill'd with naked nymphs surveyed.
The frighted virgins shriek'd at the surprise,
(The forest echo'd with their piercing cries)
Then in a huddle Tound tlieir goddess pressed ;
She, proudly eminent above the rest,
With brashes glow*d, such blushes as adorn
The ruddy welkin, or the purple morn ;
And though the crowding nymphs her body hide,
Half backward shrunk, and view'd him from aside.
Surpris'd at first she would have snatch'd her bow,
Bat sees the circling waters round her flow ;
These in the hollow of her hand she took,
And dash'd 'em in his face, while thus she spoke :
' Tell, if thou canst, the wondrous sight disclos'd,
A goddess naked to thy view expos'd.'
This said, the man begun to disappear
By slow degrees, and ended in a deer.
A rising horn on either brow he wears,
And stretches out bis neck and pricks his ears.
Rough is his skin, with sudden hairs o'ergrown,
His bosom pants with fears before unknown :
r
ISO OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. BockS.
Transform'd at length he flies away in haste,
And wonders why be flies away so fast.
But as by chance within a neighbouring brook,
He saw his branching horns and altered look;
Wretched Actaeon ! in a doleful tone
He tried to speak, but only gave a groan ;
And as he wept, within the watry glass
He saw the big round drops with silent pace
Run trickling down a savage hairy face.
What should he do ? or seek his old abodes,
Or herd among the deer, and skulk in woods?
Here shame dissuades nun, there bis fear prevail*,
And each by turns his aching heart assails.
As he thus ponders, he behind him spies
His opening hounds, and now he hears their criei:
A generous pack, or to maintain the chase,
Or snuff the vapour from the scented grass.
He bounded off with fear, and swiftly ran
O'er craggy mountains and the flowery plain ;
Through brakes and thickets forc'd his way, and flew
Through many a ring where once he did pursue.
In vain he oft endeavoured to proclaim
His new misfortune, and to tell his name ;
Nor voice nor words the brutal tongue supplies;)
From shouting men, and horns and dogs, he ffieijr
Deafen'd and stun'd with their promiscuous cries. 1
When now the fleetest of the pack, that pressd
Close at his heels, and spmng before the rest,
Had fksten'd on him ; straight another pair
Hung on his wounded haunch, and held him thenv
Till all the pack came up, and every hound )
Tore the sad huntsman groveling on the ground, f
Who now appear'd but one continued wound. '
With dropping tears his bitter fate he moans,
And Alls the mountain with his dying groans.
}
Book 3. OVID'8 metamorphoses. 121
His servants with a piteous look he spies,
And tarns jabout his supplicating eyes.
His servants, ignorant of what had chanc'd,
With eager haste and joyful shouts advanced,
And call'd their lord Actaeon to the game.
He shook his head in answer to the name ;
He heard, but wish'd he had indeed been gone.
Or only to have stood a looker-on.
Bnt to his grief he finds himself too near,
And feels his ravenous dogs with fury tear
Their wretched master panting in a deer.
THE BIRTH OF BACCHUS.
Actaeon's sufferings, and Diana's rage,
Did all the thoughts of men and gods engage ;
(Some call'd the evils which Diana wrought
Too great, and disproportion'd to the fault :
Others, again, esteem'd Acteon's woes
Fit for a virgin-goddess to impose.
The hearers into different parts divide,
And reasons are produced on either side.
Juno alone, of all that heard the news,
Nor would condemn the goddess nor excuse :
She heeded not the justice of the deed,
But joy'd to see the race of Cadmus bleed;
For still she kept Europa in her mind,
And for her sake detested alf her kind.
Besides, to aggravate her hate, she heard
How Semele, to Jove's embrace preferVI,
Was now grown big with an immortal load,
And carried in her womb a future god.
Thus terribly incens'd, the goddess broke
To sadden fury, and abruptly spoke : v
' Are my reproaches of so small a force?
'Tib time I then pursue another course :
r
I,
12*2 OV ID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bodk 3.
It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die,
If I'm indeed the mistress of the sky ;
If rightly styl'd among the powers above
The wife and sister of the thundering Jove;
(And none can sure a sister's right deny)
It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die.
She boasts an honour I can hardly claim,
Pregnant she rises to a mother's name ;
While prond and vain she triumphs in her Jove,
And shows the glorious tokens of his love ;
But if I'm still the mistress of the skies,
By her own lover the fond beauty dies.'
This said, descending in a yellow cloud,
Before the gates of Semele she stood.
Old Beroe's decrepit shape she wears,
Her wrinkled visage, and her hoary hairs ;
Whilst in her trembling gait she totters on,
And learns to tattle in the nurse's tone.
The goddess, thus disguis'd in age, beguiPd
With pleasing stories her false foster-child.
Much did she talk of love, and when she came
To mention to the nymph her lover's name,
Fetching a sigh, and holding down her head,
' Tis well,' says she, ' if all be true that's said.
But trust me, child, I'm much inclin'd to fear
Some counterfeit in this your Jupiter.
Many an honest well-designing maid
Has been by these pretended gods betray'd.
But if he be indeed the thundering Jove,
Bid him, when next he courts the rites of love,
Descend triumphant from the' ethereal sky,
In all the pomp of his divinity ;
Encompass'd round by those celestial charms
With which be tills the' immortal Juno's arms.'
. . • ..
B*0k 3. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 123
3
The* nnwary nymph, ensnar'd with what she said,
Desir'd of Jove, when next he sought her bed,
To grant a certain gift which she would choose ;
' Fear not,' replied the god, ' that Til refuse
Wbate'er yon ask ; may Styx confirm my voice,
Choose what you will and y oh shall have your choice.'
' Then* says the nymph, ' when next you seek my
May yon descend in those celestial charms [arms,
With which your Juno's bosom you inflame,
And fill with transport heaven's immortal dame.'
The god,surpris*d, would fain have stop'd her voice ;
But he had sworn, and she had made her choice.
To keep his promise he ascends* and shrouds
His awful brow in whirlwinds and in clouds ;
Whilst all around in terrible array,
His thunders rattle and his lightnings play,
And yet, the dazzling lustre to abate,
He set not out in all his pomp and state ;
Clad in the mildest lightning of the skies,
And arm'd with thunder of the smallest size ;
Not those huge bolts, by which the giants slain
Lay overthrown on the Phlegrean plain :
'Twas of a lesser mould and lighter weight,
They call it thunder of a second-rate ;
For the rough Cyclops, who by Jove's command
Temper*d the bolt, and turn'd it to his hand,
Work*d up less flame and fury in its make,
And quench'd it sooner in the standing lake.
Thus dreadfully adorn'd with horror bright, 1
The' illustrious god, descending from his height, £
Came rushing on her in a storm of light. J
The mortal dame, too feeble to engage
The lightning's flashes and the thunder's rage,
Consum'd amidst the glories she desir'd,
And in the terrible embrace expir'd.
124 ovid's metamorphoses. BeokS,
But to preserve his offspring from the tomb,
Jove took him smoking from the blasted womb:
And, if on ancient tales we may rely,
Inclos'd the' abortive infant in his thigh.
Here when the babe had all his time fui6U'd,
Ino first took him for her foster-child ;
Then the Niseaus, in their dark abode,
Nurs'd secretly with milk the thriving god.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF TIRESIAS.
T was now wliilc these transactions pass'd on earth,
And Bacchus thus procur'd a second birth;
When Jove, dispos'd to lay aside the weight
Of public empire and the cares of state,
As to his queen in nectar bowls he quaff'd;
1 In troth/ says he, and as he spoke he laugh'd,
1 The sense of pleasure in the male is far
More dull and dead, tlian what you females share.'
Juno the truth of what was said denied,
Tiresias therefore must the cause decide,
For he the pleasure of each sex had tried.
It happen'd once, within a shady wood,
Two twisted snakes be in conjunction view'd,
When with his staff their slimy folds he broke,
And lost his manhood at the fatal stroke.
But after seven revolving years, he view'd
The self-same serpents in the self-same wood :
' And if/ says he, ' such virtue in you lie,
That he who dares your slimy folds untie
Must change his kind, a second stroke I'll try.'
Again he struck the snakes, and stood again
New-sex'd, and straight recover'd into man.
Him therefore both the deities create
The sovereign umpire in their grand debate :
Btok $, OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 125
And he declar'd for Jove ; when Juno, nVd,
.More than so trivial an affair requirtl,
Depriy'd bim in her fury of his sight,
And left him groping round in sadden night.
Bnt Jove (for so it is ip heaven decreed,
That no one god repeal another's deed)
Irradiates all his soul with inward light,
And with the prophet's art relieves the want of sight.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF ECHO.
Fam'd far and near for knowing things to come,
From him the' inquiring nations sought their doom ;
The fair Liriope his answers tried,
And first the' unerring prophet justified.
This nymph the god Cephisus bad abusld.
With all bis winding waters drcumfus'd.
And on the Nereid got a lovely boy,
Whom the soft maids ev'n then beheld with joy.
The tender dame, solicitous to know
Whether her child should reach old age or no,
Consults the sage Tiresias, who replies,
* If e'er he knows himself, be surely dies.'
Long liv'd the dubious mother in suspense,
Till time unriddled all the prophet's sense.
Narcissus now his sixteenth year began,
Just tunfd of boy, and on the verge of man ;
Many a friend the blooming youth caress'd,
Many a lovesick maid her flame confessed.
Such was his pride in vain the friend caress'd,
The lovesick maid in vain her flame confess'd.
Once, in the woods, as he pursued the chase,
The babbling Echo had descried bis race;
She, who in others' words her silence breaks,
Nor speaks herself but when another speaks.
126 oyid's metamorphoses. Book 3.
Echo was then a maid of speech bereft,
Of wonted speech ; for though her voice was left,
Judo a curse did on her tongue impose,
To sport with every sentence in the close.
Full often when the goddess might have caught
Jove and her rivals in the very fruit,
This nymph with subtle stories would delay
Her coming till the lovers slipt away.
The goddess found out the deceit in time,
And then she cried, ' That tongue for this thy crimp,
Which could so many subtle tales produce,
Shall be hereafter but of little use.'
Hence 'tis she prattles in a fainter tone,
With mimic sounds and accents not her own.
This lovesick virgin, overjoy'd to find
The boy alone, still foUow'd him behind ;
When, glowing warmly at her near approach,
As sulphur blazes at the taper's touch,
She long'd her hidden passion to reveal,
And tell her pains, but had not words to tell :
She can't begin, but waits for the rebound,
To catch his voice and to return the sound.
The nymph, when nothing could Narcissus mote,
Still dash'd with blushes for her slighted love,
Liv'd in the shady covert of the wood*,
In solitary caves and dark abodes;
Where pining wander'd the rejected fair,
Till harass'd out, and worn away with care,
The sounding skeleton, of blood bereft.
Besides her bones and voice had nothing left.
Her bones are petrified, her voice is found
In vaults, where still it doubles every sound.
C S. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 127
am!' 3
THE STORY OF NARCISSUS.
» did the nymphs in vain caress the hoy ;
ill was lovely, bat be still was coy ;
i one fair virgin of the slighted train
pray'd the gods, provok'd by bis disdain
aay he love like me, and love like me in vain !
amsia pitied the neglected fair,
vith jost vengeance answered to her pray'r.
ere stands a fountain in a darksome wood,
ttain'd with falling leaves, nor rising mod ;
mbled by tlie breath of winds it rests
Died by the touch of men or beasts;
bowers of shady trees above it grow,
rising grass and cheerful greens below.
*d with the form and coolness of the place,
over-heated by the morning chase,
issus on the grassy verdure lies ;
riiilst within the crystal fount he tries
ciench bis heat be feels new heat arise.
ts his own bright image he surveyed,
ill in love with the fantastic shade ;
o'er the fair resemblance hung unmov'd,
knew, fond youth ! it was himself he lov'd.
well-turn'd neck and shoulders he descries,
spacious forehead, and the sparkling eyes ;
hands that Bacchus might not scorn to show,
hair that round Apollo's head might flow ;
i all the purple youthfulness of face,
gently blushes in the watery glass,
is own flames consumed the lover lies,
gives himself the wound by which he dies.
he cold water oft he joins his lips,
^aftpjring at the beauteous shade he dips
altV, as often from himself hettips :
\
128 OVID'S METAMORPHOSBS. fifttfc 3.
Nor knows he who it is his arms pursue
With eager clasps, bat loves be knows not who.
What could, fond youth, tins helpless pssnaa
What kindled in thee this unpitied lore? [mm?
Thy own warm blush within the water glows,
With thee the colour'd shadow conies and goes,
Its empty being on thyself relies,
Step thou aside, and the frail charmer dies.
Still o'er the fountain's watery gleam he stood,
Mindless of sleep, and negligent of food,
Still view'd his face, and languished as he viewed.
At length he rais'd his head, and thin began
To vent bis griefs, and tell the woods his pan,
* You trees,' says he, 'and thou sarroandhig grow,
Who oft have been the kindly scenes of love,
Tell me, if e'er within your shades did lie
A youth so tortur'd, so perplex'd as I ?
I, who before rae see the charming fair,
Whilst there he stands, and yet he stands not there;
In such a maze of love my thoughts are lost;
And yet no bulwark'd town, nor distant coast,
Preserves the beauteous youth from being seen;
No mountains rise, nor oceans flow between.
A shallow water hinders my embrace,
And yet the lovely mimic wears a face
That kindly smiles, and when I bend to join
My lips to his, he fondly bends to mine.
Hear, gentle youth, and pity my complaint,
Come from thy well, thou fair inhabitant.
My charms an easy conquest have obtain'd
O'er other hearts, by thee alone disdain'd.
But why should I despair ? I'm sure be barm
With equal flames, and languishes by turns.
Whene'er I stoop he offers at a kiss,
And when my arms I stretch, he stretches bb.
Book 3. OTLD'S METAMORPHOSES. 129
His eyes with pleasure oo my face he keeps,
He smiles my smiles, and when I weep he weeps.
Whene'er I speak, his moving lips appear
To otter something which I cannot hear.
' Ah, wretched me ! I now begin too late
To find out all the long-perplex'd deceit ;
It is myself I love, myself I see,
The gay delusion is a part of me.
I kindle op the fires by which I burn,
And my own beauties from the well return,
Whom should I court? How utter my complaint? }
Enjoyment but produces my restraint, V
And too much plenty makes me die for want. 3
How gladly would I from myself remove I
And at a distance set the thing I love.
My breast is warm'd with such unusual fire,
I wish him absent whom I most desire.
And now I faint with grief, my fate draws nigh ;
In all the pride of blooming youth I die ;
Death will the sorrows of my heart relieve.
Oh, might the visionary youth survive,
I should with joy my latest breath resign!
But oh ! I see his fate involv'd in mine/
This said, the weeping youth again return'd
To the clear fountain, where again he burn'd ;
His tears defac'd the surface of the well,
With circle after circle as they fell:
And now the lovely face but half appears,
O'errun with wrinkles, and defbrm'd with tears.
' Ah whither,' cries Narcissus ' dost thou fly?
Let me still feed the flame by which I die;
Let me still see, though I'm no further bless'd.'
Then rends his garment off, and beats his breast;
His naked bosom reddens with the blow,
In such a blush as purple clusters show,
130 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 3.
Ere yet the sun's autumnal heats refine
Their sprightly juice, and mellow it to wine :
The glowing beauties of his breast he spies,
And with a new redoubled passion dies.
As wax dissolves, as ice begins to run,
And trickle into drops before the sun ;
So melts the youth, and languishes away,
His beauty withers, and his limbs decay;
And none of those attractive charms remain,
To which the slighted Echo su'd in vain.
She saw him in his present misery,
Whom, spite of all her wrongs, she griev'd to see
She answered sadly to. the lover's moan,
Sigh'd back his sighs, and groan'd to every groan
' Ah youth ! belov'd in vain,' Narcissus cries ;
* Ah youth ! belov'd in vain,' the nymph replies.
* Farewell,' says he ; the parting sound scarce fel
From his mint lips, but she replied, ' Farewell.'
Then on the' unwholesome earth he gasping lies,
Till death shuts up those self-admiring eyes.
To the cold shades his flitting ghost retires,
And in the Stygian waves itself admires.
For him the Naiads and the Dryads mourn,
Whom the sad Echo answers in her turn,
And now the sister-nymphs prepare his urn :
When, looking for his corpse, they only found
A rising stalk, with yellow blossoms crown'd.
THE STORY OF PENTIIEUS.
This sad event gave blind Tiresias fame,
Through Greece established in a prophet's na
The* unhallow'd Pentheus only durst derid
The cheated people, and their eyeless guide
To whom the prophet in bis fury said,
Shaking the hoary honours of his head;
Hook 3. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 131
' Twere well, presumptuous man, 'twere well for
If thou wert eyeless too, and blind like me: [thee,
For the time conies, nay 'tis already here,
When the young god's solemnities appear ;
Which, if thou dost not with just rites adorn, f
Thy impious carcase, into pieces torn, >
Shall strew the woods, and hang on every thorn. 3
Then, then, remember what I now foretel,
And own the blind Tiresias saw too well.'
Still Pentheus scorns him, and derides his skill ;
But time did all the prophets threats fulfil, [rode,
For now through prostrate Greece young Bacchus
Whilst howling matrons celebrate the god ;
All ranks and sexes to his orgies ran,
To mingle in the pomps, and fill the train ;
When Pentheus thus his wicked rage expressed :
' What madness, Thebans, has your souls possess'd ?
Can hollow timbrels, can a drunken shout,
And the lewd clamours of a beastly rout,
Thus quell; your courage ? Can the weak alarm
Of women's yells those stubborn souls disarm,
Whom nor the sword nor trumpet e'er could fright,
Nor the loud din and horror of a fight ?
And you, our sires, who left your old abodes,
And fix'd in foreign earth your country gods,
Will you without a stroke your city yield,
And poorly quit an undisputed field ?
But you, whose youth and vigour should inspire
Heroic warmth, and kindle martial fire,
Whom burnish'd arms and crested helmets grace,
Not flowery garlands and a painted Ace ;
Remember him to whom you stand allied,
The serpent for his well of waters died.
He fought the strong, do you his courage show,
And gain a conquest o'er a feeble foe.
132 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. So0k 3.
If Thebes must fall, oh ! might the fates afford
A nobler doom from famine, fire, or sword.
Then might the Thebans perish with renown ;
Bat now a beardless victor sacks the town ;
Whom nor the prancing steed nor pondroos shield,
Nor the hack'd helmet, nor the dusty field,
But the soft joys of luxury and ease,
The pnrple vests and flowery garlands please :
Stand then aside, I'll make the counterfeit
Renounce his god-head, and confess the cheat.
Acrisius from the Grecian walls repeU'd [yield ?
This boasted power: why then should Fentheus
Go quickly, drag the* impostor boy to me,
I'll try the force of his divinity.'
Thus did the' audacious wretch those rites profane ;
His friends dissuade the1 audacious wretch in vain ;
In vain his grandare urg'd him to give o'er
His impious threats ; the wretch but raves the more.
So have I seen a river gently glide
In a smooth course and inoffensive tide ;
But if with dams ite current we restrain,
It bears down all, and foams along the plain.
But now his servants came besmeared with bloody
Sent by their haughty prince to seiae the god j
The god they found not in the frantic throng,
But drag'd a zealous votary along.
THE MARINERS TRANSFORMED TO DOLPHINS.
Him Pentbeus view*d with fury in his look,
And scarce withheld his bands whilst thus be spoke :
* Vile slave 1 whom speedy vengeance shall pursue,
And terrify thy base seditious crew;
Thy country and thy parentage reveal,
And why thou joinst in these mad orgies tell.'
B*9k3, OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 135
sThe captive views him with undaunted eyes ;
Aid, arm'd with inward innocence, replies :
c From high Meonia's rocky shores I came,
Of poor descent, Acoetes is my name ;
My sire was meanly born ; no oxen ptough'd
His fruitful fields, nor in his pastures low'd>
His whole estate within the waters lay,
With lines and hooks he caught the finny prey ;
His art was all his livelihood, which he
Thus with his dying lips bequeathed to me :
' In streams, my boy, and rivers take thy chance ;
There swims,' said he, ' thy whole inheritance.'
Long did I live on this poor legacy,
Till9 tir*d with rocks and my old native sky,
To arts of navigation I inclin'd,
Observ'd the turns and changes of the wind ;
Learn'd the fit havens, and began to note
The stormy Hyades, the rainy Goat,
The bright Taygete, and the shining Bears,
With all the sailor's catalogue of stars.
Once as by chance for Delos I design'd,
My vessel, driven by a strong gust of wind,
Moor*d in a Chian creek, ashore I went,
And all the following night in Chios spent.
When morning rose I sent my mates to bring
Supplies of water from a neighbouring spring,
Whilst I the motion of the winds explored ;
Then summoned in my crew, and went aboard.
Opheltes heard my summons, and with joy
Brought to the shore a soft and lovely boy,
With more than female sweetness in his look,
Whom straggling in the neighbouring fields he took.
With fumes of wine the little captive glows,
And nods with sleep, and staggers as he goes.
vol. i. x
134 OVID** MKTAMORPHOIES. Bo*fc3.
i
* •
\
' I view'd him nicely, and began to trace
Each heavenly feature, each immortal grace,
And saw divinity in all his face.
" I know not who," raid I, " thin god should be,
But that he is a god I plainly see ;
And thou, whoe'er thou art, excuse tiie force
These men have us'd ; and oil, befriend our coarse r
" Pray not for us," the nimble Dictys cried,
Dictys, that could the main-top. mast bestride,
And down the ropes with active vigour slide.
To the same purpose old Epopeus spoke,
Who overlooked the oars and tim'd the stroke;
The same the pilot, and the same the rest,
Such impious avarice their souls pos&e&s'd.
" Nay, heaven forbid that I should bear away
Within my vessel so divine a prey,"
Said I , and stood to hinder their intent ;
When Ly cabas, a wretch for murder sent
From Tuscany to suffer banishment,
With his clench'd fist had struck me overboard,
Had not my hands, in falling, grasp'd a cord.
* His base confederates the fact approve,
When Bacchus, (for 'twas he) begun to move,
Wak'd by the noise and clamours which they rais'd.
And shook his drowsy limbs, and round him gai'd:
'' What means this noise ?" he cries, "ami betray 'd?
Ah, whither, whither must I be convey'd ?•
" Fear not,** said Proreus, "child, but tell us where
You wish to land, and trust our friendly care."
" To Naxos then direct your course,** said
" Naxos a hospitable port shall be
To each of you, a joyful home to me,"
By every god that rules the sea or sky,
The perjnr'd villains promise to comply,
I
are.'
he: )
ifeefcA. OVID'S MBTAMOBPHOSBS. 155
Aiid bid me batten to unmoor the ship ;
With eager joy I launch into the deep,
And heedless of the fraud for Naxos stand ;
They whisper oft, and beckon with the band.
And give me signs, all anxious for. their prey,
To tack about and steer another way.
" Then let some other to my post succeed,*
Said I, " I'm guiltless of so foul a deed."
" What,* says Etbalion, " roast the ship's whole crew
Follow your humour, and depend on you?19
And straight himself he seated at the prore,
And tack'd about, and sooght another shore.
' The beauteous youth now found himself be-*
tray'd,
And from the deck the rising waves sunrey'd,
And seenfd to weep, and as he wept he said :
" And do you thus my easy faith beguile ?
Thus do you bear me to my native isle?
Will such a multitude of men employ
Their strength against a weak defenceless boy ?"
' In vain did I the godlike youth deplore,
The more I beg'd they thwarted me the more.
And now by all the gods in heaven that hear
This solemn oath, by Bacchus' self I swear,
The mighty miracle that did ensue,
Although it seems beyond belief, is true.
The vessel, 6x'd and rooted in the flood,
Umnov'd by all the beating billows stood :
In vain the mariners would plough the main
With sails unfurTd, and strike their oars in vain;
Around their oars a twining ivy cleaves, ,
And climbs the mast, and hides the cords in leaves ;,
The sails are cover*d with a cheerful green,
And berries in the fruitful canvass seen.
»r-
I
A hero m
In glaring forms ; the gr»tv —
On bis Air brows, and dangle on his hew
And whilst ht> frowns and brandishes his i
My mates, surprised with madness or wit
Leap'd overboard ; first perjnr'd Madon 1
Rongh scales and fins his stiffening sides s
'* Ah ! what," cries one, " has thus transit
look?"
Straight his own month grew wider as hi
And now himself he views with like snrpi
Still at bis oar the' industrious Libya plie
But as he plie*, each busy arm shrinks in
And by degrees is fashion'd to a fin :
Another, as he catches at a cord,
Misses his arms, and, tumbling overboarc
With his broad fins and forky tail he lave
The rising surge, and flounces iu the wai
Thus all my crew transform'd around tHfc
Or dive below, or on the surface leap; ■
And spout the waves, and wanton in the
Full nineteen sailors did the ship convey,
A shoal of nineteen dolphins round her pi
I only in my proper shape appear,
Speechless with wonder, and half dead w
Till Bacchus kindly bid me fear no more
"With him I landed on the Chian shore,
And him shall ever gratefully adore.'
' Thia forging slave,' says Pentheus, * wo
O'er our just fury by a far-fetch'd talc :
Go, let him feel the whips, the swords,
And in the tortures of the rack expire.
Btk 3. uvia't KRAMdtptrosM. 137
The' officious servant* harry Lim awn?,
And the poor captive in s dongeon lay ;
Bat whilst the whips and tortures are prepar'd,
The gates fly open, of themselves nobarr'd ;
At nberty the' unfetter'd captive stands,
And flings the looseu'd shackles from bis hand*.
But Pentheus, grown more furious than before,
Resolv'd to send liis messengers no more,
But went himself to tlie distracted throng,
Where high Cithteron echo'd with their song.
And as the Aery war-horse paws the ground.
And snarls and trembles at the trompef s soand }
Transported thus he heard the frantic root,
And rat'd aud madden 'd at the distant shoot.
A spacious circuit on the hill there stood,
Level and wide, and skirted roond with wood ;
Here the rash Pentheus, with onhaltow'd eyes,
The howling dames and mystic orgies spies.
His mother sternly view'd him where be stood,
And kindled into madness as she view'd :
Her leafy javelin at her son she cast,
And cries, 'The boar that lays onr country waste!
1'lie boar, my sisters ! aim the fatal dart,
y%nd strike the brindled monster to the heart'
Pentheus astonish 'd heard the dismal sound,
j4nd sees the yelling matrons gathering round ;
rig sees, and weeps at his approaching fate,
And beg* t°T mercy, ""d repents too late.
jMe |p t help ! my ai'™* A »»*-»s ' >■- ■» ***
ff.erne~' '"■", '■"
toss**"
138
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 3.
i
In vain does Pentheus to his mother sue,
And the raw bleeding stamps presents to view :
His mother bowl'd, and, heedless of his pray'r,
Her trembling hand she twisted in his hair,
' And this,' she cried, ' shall be Agave's shared
When from the neck his struggling head she tore,
And in her hands the ghastly visage bore ;
With pleasure all the hideous trunk survey ;
Then pull'd and tore the mangled limbs away,
As, starting, in the pangs of death it lay.
Soon as the wood its leafy honours casts,
Blown off and scattered by autumnal blasts,
With such a sudden death lay Pentheus slain,
And in a thousand pieces strow'd the plain*
By so distinguishing a judgment aw'd,
The Thebans tremble, and confess the gocL
k
.+ .
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK IV.
THE STORY OF ALClTHOE AND HER SltTEBt.
BY EUSDEN.
Yrr still Ateitboe perverse remains,
And Bacchus still and all bis rites disdain*:
Too rash and madly bold, she bids him prove
Himaelf a cod, nor owns the son of Jove.
Her sisters too unanimous agree,
Faithful associates in impiety.
* fie this a solemn feast/ the priest had said,
* He, with each mistress, unemploy'd each maid.
With skins of beasts your tender limbs inclose,
And with an ivy-crown adorn yonr brows,
The leafy Thyrsus high in triumph bear,
And give your locks to wanton in the air.'
These rites profan'd, the holy seer foresbow'd
A mourning people and a vengeful god.
Matrons and pious wives obedience show,
Distaffs and wool half-spun away they throw ;
Then incense burn, and Bacchus thee adore $
Or lov'st tbon Kys&ns or Lyaens more ?
* Oh ! doubly got, ob ! doubly born,' they sung ;
' Thou mighty Bromius, foil, from lightning sprung !
140 OVID'S Bf ETAMORPHOSKS. B*>k 4.
Hail, Thyon, Eleleus ! each name is thine :
Or listen parent of the genial Tine !
lacchusl Evan!' londly they repeat.
And not one Grecian attribute forget,
Which to thy praise great deity belong j
Styl'd justly Liber in the Roman song.
' Eternity of youth is thine ! enjoy
Years roll'd on years, yet still a blooming boy.
In heaven thou shin'st with a superior grace ;
Conceal thy horns, and 'tis a virgin's face.
Thon taught'st the tawny Indian to obey,
And Ganges smoothly flowing own'd thy sway;
Lycurgus, Pen the us, equally profane,
By thy just vengeance equally were slain :
By thee the Tuscans, who conspirM to keep
Thee captive, plong'd, and cut with fins the deep.
With painted reins all-glittering from afar,
The spotted lynxes proudly draw thy car :
Around the Bacchep and the satyrs throng,
Behind Silenus drunk lags slow along ;
On his dull ass he nods from side to side,
Forbears to fall, yet half forgets to ride.
Still at thy near approach applauses loud
Are heard, with yellings of the female crowd :
Timbrels and boxen pipes, with mingled cries,
Swell up in sounds confus'd, and rend the skies :
Come, Bacchus, come propitious, all implore
And act thy sacred orgies o'er and o'er.'
But Mineus' daughters while these rites were
At home impertinently busy stay'd ; [p*f&>
Their wicked tasks they ply with various art,
And through the loom the sliding shuttle dart ;
Or at the tire to comb the wool they stand,
Or twirl the spindle with a dextrous hand :
Both %, OVIDS Bf ETAMORPHOSBS. 141
Guilty themselves, they force the guiltless in ;
Their maids who share their labour share their sin*
At last one sister cries, who nimbly knew
To draw nice threads and wind the finest cine,
' While others idly rove, and gods revere,
Their fended gods ! they know not who or where;
Let lis, whom Pallas taught her better arts,
Still working, cheer with mirthful chat our hearts ;
And, to deceive the time, let me prevail
With each by turns to tell some antique tale.'
She said ; her sisters like the humour well,
And, smiling, bade her the first story tell ;
But she awhile profoundly seem'd to muse,
PerpJex'd amid variety to choose ;
And knew not whether she should first relate
The poor Dircetis and her wondrous fate.
The Palesttnes believe it to a man,
And show the lake in which her scales began ;
Or if she rather should the daughter sing,
Who in the hoary verge of life took wing ;
Who soar'd from earth, and dwelt in towers on high,
And now a dove she flits along the sky;
Or how lewd Nats, when her lust was cloy'd,
To fishes turned the youths she had enjoyed,
By powerful verse and herbs ; effects most strange {
And last the changer shar'd herself the change.
Or bow the tree which once white berries bore,
Still crimson bears, since stain'd with crimson gore :
The tree was new ; she likes it, and begins
To tell the tale, and as she tells she spins.
THE STORY OF PYRAMUS AND THISBE.
In Babylon, where first her queen for state
Rais'd walls of brick magnificently great.
t
f
142 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 4.
Liv'd Pyramus and Thisbe, lovely pair!
He found no eastern youth his eqnal there.
And she beyond the fairest nymph was fair.
A closer neighbourhood was never known,
Though two the bouses yet the roof was one :
Acquaintance grew, the' acquaintance they improve
To friendship, friendship ripen*d into love :
Love had been crown'd, but impotently mad.
What parents could not hinder they forbad ;
For with fierce flames young Pyramus still bura'd,
And grateful Thisbe flames as fierce return'd.
Aloud in words their thoughts they dare not break.
But silent stand, and silent looks can speak :
The fire of love, the more it is suppress'd,
The more it glows and rages in the breast.
When the division-wall was built, a chink
Was left, the cement unobserv'd to shrink ;
So slight the cranny that it stilt had been
For centuries unclos'd, because unseen.
But oh ! what tiling so small, so secret lies,
Which scapes, if form'd for love, a lover's eyes?
Ev'n in this narrow chink they quickly found
A friendly passage for a trackless sound :
Safely they told their sorrows and their joys,
In whispered murmurs and a dying noise ;
By turns to catch each other's breath they stro
And suck'd in all the balmy breeze of love.
Oft as on different sides they stood, they cried
* Malicious wall, thus lovers to divide!
Suppose thou sbnuld'st awhile to us give plac
To lock and fasten in a close embrace ;
Bat if too much to grant so sweet a bliss,
Indulge at least the pleasure of a kiss :
<•■« /
Hook 4. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 149
We scorn ingratitude ; to thee we know
This safe conveyance of our minds we owe.'
Tims they their vain petition did renew
Till night, and then they softly stgh'd adieu !
Bnt first they strove to kiss, and that was all;
Their kisses died untasted on the wall :
Soon as the morn had o'er the stars prcvail'd,
And, warm'd by Phoebus, flowers their dews exhale,
The lovers to their well-known place return,
Alike they suffer, and alike they mourn.
At last their parents they resolve to cheat,
(If to deceive in love be call'd deceit)
To steal by night from home, and thence unknown
To seek the fields, and qnit the' unfaithful town.
But to prevent their wandering in the dark,
They both agree to fix npon a mark ;
A mark that conld not their designs expose ;
The tomb of Ninus was the mark they chose.
There they might rest secure beneath the shade,
Which boughs with snowy fruit encumber*d made :
A wide-spread mulberry its rise had took
Just on the margin of a gargling brook.
Impatient for the friendly dusk they stay,
And chide the slowness of departing day.
In western seas down sunk at last the light,
From western seas up-rose the shades of night :
The loving Thisbe ev'n prevents the hour,
With cautious silence she unlocks the door,
And veils her face, and marching through the gloom
Swiftly arrives at the' assignation-tomb ;
(For still the fearful sex can fearless prove ;
Boldly they act if spirited by love) :
When lo ! i* lioness rnsh'd o-er the plain,
Grimly besmear'd with blood of oxen slain;
/
144 OVID'S NCTAHMFBOUa. flftftk 4
And what to tlie dire sight new horrors brought
To slake ber thirst the neighbouring spring s
sought;
Which by the moon when trembling Thisbe spi<
Wiug'd with her fear, swift as the wind she fliei
And in a cave recovers from her fright,
Bat drop'd ber veil, confounded in her flight
When, sated with repeated draughts, again
The queen of beasts scour'd back along the plaii
She found the veil, and mouthing it all o'er,
With bloody jaws the lifeless prey she tore.
The youth, who could not cheat his guards so soo
Late came, and noted by the glimmering moon
Some savage feet now printed on tlie ground ;
His cheeks tnrn'd pale, his limbs no vigour fouw
But when, advancing on, the veil he spied,
Distain'd with blood and ghastly torn, he cried,
' One night shall death to two young lovers give
But she deserv'd unnumbered years to live!
Tis I am guilty, I have thee betray'd,
Who came not early as my charming maid.
Whatever slew thee I the cause remain,
I nam'd and fix'd the place where thou wast alsni
Ye lions from your neighbouring dens repair,
Pity the wretch, this impious body tear !
But cowards thus for death can idly cry,
The brave still have it in their power to die.'
Then to the1 appointed tree he hastes away,
The veil first gather*d, though all rent it lay :
The veil all rent, yet still itself endears,
He kiss'd, and kissing wash'd it with his tears.
' Though rich,' he cried, ' with many apreciousstaa
Still from my blood a deeper tincture gain/
r^/\~
Bc0k *» OVID'S METAMOltFHOSES. 145
Then in bis breast bis shining sword be drowtfd,
And fell supine extended on the ground.
As out again the blade he dying drew.
Out span the blood, and streaming upwards flew.
So if a conduit-pipe e'er burst you saw,
Swift spring the gushing waters through the flaw ;
Then spouting in a bow, they rise on high,
And a new fountain plays amid the sky :
The berries stanVd with blood began to show
A dark complexion, and forgot their snow;
While, fatten'd with the flowing gore, the root
Was doom'd for ever to a purple fruit
Meantime poor Tlasbe fear'd, so long she stay*d,
Her lover might suspect a perjur'd maid.
Her fright scarce o'er, she strove the youth to find
With ardent eyes which spoke, and ardent mind :
Already in his arms, she hears him sigh
At ber destruction which was once so nigh.
The tomb, the tree, but not the fruit she knew,
The fruit she doubted for its alter'd hue.
Still as she doubts ber eyes a body found
Quivering in death, and gasping on the ground :
She started back, the red her cheeks forsook,
And every nerve with thrilling horrors shook ;
So trembles the smooth surface of the seas,
If brush'd o'er gently with a riritag breeze :
Bat when her view her bleeding love eonfess'd,
Sbeshriek'd, she tore her hair, she beat her breast :
She nuVd the body, and embracM it round,
And batb'd with tears unfeignM the gaping wound ;
Then ber warm lips to the cold face applied,
' And is it thus, ah! thus we meet P she cried,
' My Pyramaa! whence sprung thy cruel fate ?
My Pyramus ! ah ! speak ere 'tis too late;
146 ovid'b metamorphoses. Book 4.
I, thy own Thisbe, but one word implore,
One word thy Thisbe never ask'd before.'
At Thisbe's name awak'd, he open'd wide
His dying eyes, with dying eyes he tried
On her to dwell, but clos'd them slow and died.
The fatal cause was now at last explor'd,
Her veil she knew, and saw his sheathless sword ;
* From thy own hand thy ruin thou hast found,1
She said, * but love first taught that hand to wound.
Ev'n I for thee as bold a hand can show,
And love which shall as true direct the blow.
I will against the woman's weakness strive,
And never thee, lamented youth, survive.
The world may say, I caus'd, alas! thy death,
But saw thee breathless, and resign'd my breath :
Fate, though it conquers, shall no triumph gain,
Fate, that divides us, still divides in vain.
4 Now both our cruel parents hear my, pray Y,
My prayer to offer for us both I dare ;
Oh) see our ashes in one urn confin'd,
Whom love at first and fate at last has join'd :
The bliss you envied is not our request,
Lovers when dead may sure together rest.
Thou, tree, where now one lifeless lump is laid,
Erelong o'er two shak cast * friendly shade :
Still let our loves from thee be understood,
Still witness in thy purple fruit our blood.'
She spoke, and in her bosom plung'd the sword,
All warm and reeking from its slaughter^ lord.
The prayer which dying Thisbe had prefefd,
Both gods and parents with compassion heard.
The whiteness of the mulberry soon fled,
And, ripening, sadden'd in a dusky red ;
Book 4. OVID 8 METAMORPHOSES* 147
While both their parents their lost children mourn,"
And nrix their ashes in one golden urn.
* Thus did the melancholy tale conclude, •
And a short silent interval ensued.
The next in birth unloos'd her artful tongue,'
And drew attentive all the sister-throng. ' .
THE STORY OF LEUCOTHOE AND THE SUN,
The Sun, the source of light, by beauty's power
Once amorous grew ; then hear the Sun's amour, i
Venus and Mars, with his far-piercing eyes,
This god first spied ; this god first all tilings spies.
Stung at the sight, and swift on mischief bent,
To haughty Juno's shapeless son he went ;
The goddess and her god-gallant betray'd,
A nd told the cuckold where their pranks were played.
Poor Vulcan soon desir'd to hear no more,
He drop'd his hammer, and he shook all o'er ;
Then courage takes, and full of vengeful ire
He heaves the bellows, and blows fierce the fire;
From liquid brass, though sure, yet subtle snares
He forms, and next a wondrous net prepares,
Drawn with such cuiious art, so nicely sly,
Unseen the mashes cheat the searching eye:
Not half so thin their webs the spiders weave,
Which the most wary buzzing prey deceive.
These chains, obedient to the touch, he spread
In secret foldings o'er the conscious bed ;
The conscious bed again was quickly press'd
By the fond pair, in lawless raptures bless'd :
Mars wonder'd at his Cytherea's charms,
More fast than ever lock'd within her arms ;
While Vulcan the' ivory doors unbared with care,.
Then call'd the gods to view the sportive pair -,
r
148 OVID'S MITAMORPHOSRS. Book 4.
The gods throng*d in, and saw in open day
Where Mars and beauty's queen all naked lay.
Oh ! shameful sight, if shameful that we name, )
Which gods with envy view*d and could not blame; >
But for the pleasure wish'd to bear the shame. )
Each deity, with langhter tir'd, departs,
Yet all still laugh'd at Vulcan in their hearts.
Through heaven the news of this surprisal run,
Bnt Venus did not thus forget the Son.
He who stol'n transports idly had betray'd,
By a betrayer was in kind repayM :
What now avails, great god, thy piercing blase?
That yonth and beauty, and those golden rays ?
Thou who can'st warm this universe atone,
FeePst now a warmth more powerfnl than thy own ;
And those bright eyes which all things should survey,
Know not from fair Lencothoe to stray :
The lamp of light, for human good design'd,
Is to one virgin niggardly confin'd.
Sometimes too early rise thy eastern beams,
Sometimes too late they set in western streams ;
Tis then her beauty thy swift course delays,
And gives to winter skies long summer days.
Now in thy face thy lovesick mind appears,
And spreads through impious nations empty fears;
For when thy beamless head is wrap'd in night,
Poor mortals tremble in despair of light.
'Tis not the moon that o'er thee casts a veil,
'Tis love alone which makes thy looks so pale:
Lcucothoe is grown thy only care,
Not Phaeton's fair mother now is fair.
The youthful Rbodos moves no tender thought,
And beauteous Persa is at last forgot.
\
Bwfc 4. OVID'g METAMORPftOSII. 149
Fond Ctyttt scorn'd, yetlov'd,and sought thy bed,
Evto thai thy heart for other virgins bled.
Leucotboe has all thy soul possessed,
And chas'd each rival passion from thy breast
To this bright nymph Eurynome gave birth,
In the bless'd confines of the spicy earth.
Excelling others, she herself beheld
By her own blooming daughter far excelPd.
The sin was Orchamus, whose vast command,
The seventh from Belns, rul'd the Persian land.
Deep in cool vales beneath the* Hesperian sky,
For the Sun's fiery steeds the pastures lie.
Ambrosia there they eat, and thence they gain
New vigour, and their daily toils sustain.
While thus on heavenly food the conrsers fed,
And night around her gloomy empire spread,
The god assum'd the mother's shape and air,
And pass'd unheeded to his darling fair.
Close by a lamp, with maids encompass'd round,
The royal spinster full employed he found :
Then cried, * A while from work, my daughter, rest ;
(And like a mother, scarce her lips he press'd),
Servants retire ! — nor secrets dare to hear,
Intrusted only to a daughter's ear.'
They swift obey'd ; not one, suspicious, thought
The secret which their misttess would be taught
Then he : ( Since now no witnesses are near,
Behold the god who guides the varions year!
The world's vast eye, of light the source serene,
Who all things sees, by whom arc all things seen.
Believe me, nymph ! (for I the truth have show'd)
Thy charms have power to charm so great a godV
Confus'd, she heard him his soft passion tell,
And on the floor, untwirl'd, the spindle fell:
VOL. I. L
150 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 4.
Still from the sweet confusion some new grace
Blush'd out by stealth, and languished in her face.
The lover, now intlam'd, himself puts on,
And out at once the god, all radiant, shone*
The virgin startled at his altered form,
Too weak to bear a god's impetuous storm ;
No more against the dazzling youth she strove,
But silent yielded, and indulged his love.
This Cly tie knew, and knew she was undone,
Whose soul was fix'd, and doted on the Sun.
She rag*d to think on her neglected charms,
And Phoebus panting in another's arms.
With envious madness nYd she flies hi haste,
And tells tlie king, his daughter was unchaste.
The king, incens'd to hear his honour stain'd,
No more the father nor the man retahfd.
In vain she stretch'd her arms, and turn'd her eyes
To her lov'd god, the' enlightner of the skies ;
In vain she own'd it was a crime, yet still
It was a crime not acted by her will.
The brutal sire stood deaf to every prayY,
And deep in earth entomb'd alive the fair.
What Phoebus could do was by Phoebus done ;
Full on her grave with pointed beams he shone :
To pointed beams the gaping earth gave way j
Had the nymph eyes, her eyes had seen the day,
But lifeless now, yet lovely still she lay.
Not more the god wept when the world was nYd,
And in the wreck his blooming boy expir'd.
The vital flame he strives to light again,
And warm the frozen blood in eveiy vein :
But since resistless fates denied that pow'r,
On tie cold nymph he rain'd a nectar showr^
2foeic4. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS* 151
• Ah ! undeserving tiros/ be said, * to die.
Yet still in odours tlion shalt reach the sky.'
The body soon dissolv'd, and all around
Perfum'd with heavenly fragrancies the ground : '
A sacrifice for gods uprose from tbence,
A sweet delightful tree of frankincense.
\
THE TRANSFORMATION OF GLTTIS.
Though guilty Clytie thus the Sun betray'd,
By too much passion she was guilty made.
Excess of love begot excess of grief,
Grief fondly bad her hence to hope relief.
Bat angry Phoebus hears unmov'd her sighs,
And scornful from her loath'd embraces flies ;
AH day, all night, in trackless wilds alone
Sl»e pin'd, and taught the listening rocks her moan :
On the bare earth she lies, her bosom bare,
Loose her attire, dishevel'd is her hair.
N ine times the morn uubar'd the gates of light,
As oft were spread the' alternate shades of night ;
So long no sustenance the mourner knew,
Unless she drunk her tears or suck'd the dew.
She tnrn'd about, but rose not from the ground,
Turn'd to the Sun, still as he roll'd his round :
On his bright face hung her desiring eyes,
Till fix'd to earth she strove in vain to rise.
Her looks their paleness in a flower retained,
Bat here and there some purple streaks they gain'd ;
Still the lov'd object the fond leaves pursue,
Still move their root the moving Sun to view,
And in the Heliotrope the nymph is true.
The sisters heard these wonders with surprise,
But part received them as romantic lies ; .
icy gauru,
view, >
3
[
lit emirs mitabormosw. J
And pertly rallied, that they conld not see
In powers divine so tut in energy.
Part own'd true god* such miracles might
Bat own'd not Bacchus one among the tin
At last a common, jui t request they make,
And beg Alcithoe her turn to take.
' I nil),' she said, ' and please yon if I caj
Then shot lier shuttle swift, and thns bega
' The fate of DaphnU is a ftte too kno<
Whom an enamonrd nymph transform'd It
Because she fear'd another nymph might s
The lovely youth, and lore as nrnch as she
.So strange the madness is of jealousy !
Nor shall I tell, what changes Seython ma
And how he walk'd a man or trip'd a maid
You too would peevish frown, and patient
To bear how Celmis grew an adamant.
He once was dear to Jove, and saw of old
Jove when a child ; but what he saw he to
Crocus and Smilas may be tiirn'd to dowr
And the Cnretes spring from bounteous ah
I pass a hundred legends stale as these,
And with sweet novelty jour taste will pl<
THE STOUT OF 8SLMSCII AMD BSBJUPBS
DY MR. ADDISOX.
How Salmacis, with weak enfeebling si.
Softens the body, and unnerves the limbs,
And what tbe secret cause, shall ben be ■
The cause is secret, but the' effect is know
lite Naiads nurs'd an infant heretofore,
That Cy tberea once to Hermes bore:
A*** 4. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 163
From both the* illustrious authors of his race
The child was nam'd ; nor was it hard to trace
Both the bright parents through the infant's face.
When fifteen years in Ida's cool retreat
The boy had told, he left his native seat,
And sought fresh fountains in a foreign soil ;
The pleasure lessened the attending toil*
With eager steps the Lycian fields he cross'd.
And fields that border on the Lycian coast;
A river here he view'd so lovely bright,
It showM the bottom in a fairer light,
Nor kept a sand conceal'd from human sight
The stream produced nor slimy ooze- nor weeds,
Nor miry rushes nor the spiky reeds ;
But dealt enriching moisture all around,
The fruitful banks with cheerful verdure crown'd,
And kept the spring eternal on the ground.
A nymph presides not practis'd in the chase,
Nor skilful at the bow nor at the race ;
Of all the blue-eyed daughters of the main,
The only stranger to Diana's train ;
Her sisters often, as 'tis said, would cry,
' Fie, Salmacis! What always idle? fie !
Or take thy quiver, or thy arrows seize,
And mix the toils of hunting with thy ease/
Nor quiver she nor arrows e'er would seize,
Nor mix the toils of hunting with her ease;
But oft would bathe her in the crystal tide,
Oft with a comb her dewy locks divide;
Now in the limpid streams she views her nee,
And dreas'd her image in the floating glass :
On beds of leaves she now repos'd her limbs,
Now gathered flowers that grew about her streams;
4
154 OYIU*S MKTAMORPHOSfcS: Bonk 4,
And then by chance was gathering, as she stood
To view the boy, and longVi for what she view'd.
Fain would she meet the youth with hasty feet,
She fain would meet him, but refus'd to meet
Before her looks were set with nicest care,
And well deserv'd to be reputed fair. [prove
' Bright youth,' she cries, ' whom all thy features
A god ; and if a god, the god of love ;
But if a mortal, bless'd thy nurse's breast,
Bless'd are thy parents, and thy sisters bless'd :
But oh, how bless'd ! how more than bless'd thy bride,
Allied in bliss if any yet allied.
If so, let mine the stolen enjoyments be ;
If not, behold a willing bride in me.'
The boy knew nought of love, and, touched with
shame,
He strove and blush'd, but still the blush became ;
In rising blushes still fresh beauties rose ;
The sunny side of fruit such blushes shows,
Aud such the moon, when all her silver white
Turns in eclipses to a ruddy light.
The nymph still begs, if not a nobler bliss,
A cold salute, at least a sister's kiss ;
And now prepares to take the lovely boy
Between her arms. He, innocently coy,
Replies, ' Or leave me to myself alone,
You rude uncivil nymph, or I'll l>e gone.'
* Fair stranger then,' says she, * It shall be so ^
And, for she fear'd his threats, she feign'd to go ;
But, hid within a covert's neighbouring green,
She kept him still in sight, herself unseen.
The boy now fancies all the danger o'er,
And innocently sports about the. shore ;
«es, )
8. )
Book 4. OVIDS METAMORPHOSES. 155
Playful and wanton to the stream he trips,
And dips his foot, and shivers as he dips.
The coolness pleas'd him, and with eager haste
His airy garments on the banks he cast;
His godlike features and his heavenly hoe,
And all bis beauties, were cxpos'd to view.
His naked limbs the nymph with rapture spies,
While hotter passions in her bosom rise,
Flush in her checks, and sparkle in her eyes.
She longs, she burns to clasp him in her arms,
And looks, and sighs, and kindles at iiis diarros.
Now all undress' d upon the banks he stood,
And clap'd his sides, and leap'd into the flood :
His lovely limbs the silver waves divide,
His limbs appear more lovely through the tide ;
As lilies, shut within a crystal case,
Receive a glossy lustre from the glass.
' He's mine, he's all my own,' the Naiad cries,
And flings off all, and after him she flies.
And now she fastens on him as he swims,
And holds him close, and wraps about his limbs.
The more the boy resisted and was coy,
The more she clip'd, and kiss'd the struggling boy.
So when the wriggling snake is snatch'd on high
In eagle's claws, and hisses in the sky,
Around the foe his twirling tail he flings,
And twists her legs, and writhes about her wings.
The restless boy still obstinately strove
To free himself, and still refus'd her love.
Amidst his limbs she kept her limbs entwin'd,
4 And why, coy youth,' she cries, * why thus I
unkind?
Ob; may the gods thus keep us ever join'd !
J
i one.
eir feces joitfd, 1
id twig, combin'd, r
a common rind : 3
156 OVID'S M ETAMORPHOf If. £*«fc &
Ob, may we never, never part again !'
So pray'd the nymph, nor did she pray in vain;
For now she finds him, as his limbs she press'd.
Grow nearer still and nearer to her breast ;
Till, piercing each the other's flesh, they ran
Together, and incorporate in one.
Last, in one face are both their
As when the stock and grafted
Shoot np the same, and wear
Both bodies in a single body mix,
A single body with a doable sex.
The boy, thus lost in woman, now sorvey'd
The river's guilty stream, and thus he pray'd :
(He pray'd, bat wonder'd at his softer tone,
Snrpris'd to hear a voice but half his own :)
* You parent-gods, whose heavenly names I bear,
Hear your Hermaphrodite, and grant my pray*r ;
Oh grant, that whomsoever these streams contain.
If man he enter'd, he may rise again
Supple, unsinew'd, and but half a man P
The heavenly parents answer'd from on high,
Their two-fchap'd son, the double votary ;
Then gave a secret virtue to the flood,
And ting'd its source to make his wishes good.
CONTINUED UT E USD EN.
ALC1THOE AND HER SISTERS TRANSFORMED TO
BATS.
But Mineus* daughters still their tasks pursue,
To wickedness most obstinately true :
At Bacchus still they laugh ; when all around,
Unseen, the timbrels hoarse were heard to sound.
Saffron and myrrh their fragrant odours shed,
And now the present deity they dread.
1
£<?•& 4. OVID'8 METAMORPHOSES. 157
Storage to relate ! Here ivy -first was seen,
Along the distaff crept the wondrous green.
Then sudden-springing vines began to bloom,
And the soft tendrils curl'd arouud the loom ;
While purple clusters, dangling from on high,
Ting'd the wrought purple with a second dye.
Now from the skies was shot a doubtful light, •
The day declining to the bounds of night
The fabric's firm foundations shake all o'er,
False tigers rage, and fignr'd lions roar :
Torches aloft seem blazing in the air,
And angry flashes of red lightnings glare.
To dark recesses, the dire sight to shun,
Swift the pale sisters in confusion ruu.
Their arms were lost in pinions as they fled,
And subtle films each slender limb o'erspread :
Their alter'd forms their senses soon reveal'd,
Their forms how alter'd, darkness still conceal'd ;
Close to the roof each wondering upwards springs,
Borne on unknown, transparent, plnmeless wings.
They strove for words, their little bodies found
No words, but murmur'd in a fainting sound.
In towns, not woods, the sooty bats delight,
And never till the dusk begin their flight ;
Till Vesper rises with his evening flame,
From whom the Romans have deriv'd their name*
THE TRANSFORMATION OF 1NO AND MELICERTA
TO SEA GODS.
The power of Bacchus now o'er Thebes had
flown;
With awful reverence soon the god they own.
Proud I no all around the wonder tells,
And on her nephew-deity still dwells.
■■ V. ._
I
158 ovid's metamorphoses. Book 4.
Of numerous sisters, she alone yet knew
No grief, but grief which she from sisters drew.
Imperial Jnno saw her with disdain,
Vain in her offspring, in her consort vain,
Who roPd the trembling Thebans with a nod,
But saw her vainest in her foster-god.
' Could then,' she cried, ' a bastard boy have pow'r
To make a mother her own son devour?
Conld he the Tuscan crew to fishes change,
And now three sisters damn to forms so strange ?
Yet shall the wife of Jove find no relief?
Shall she* still unrevengM, disclose her grief?
Have I the mighty freedom to complain ?
Is that my power ? Is that to ease my pain ?
A foe has taught me vengeance, and who ought
To scorn that vengeance, which a foe has taught ?
What sure destruction frantic rage can throw,
The gaping wounds of slaughtered Pentheus show.
Why should not Ino, fiYd with madness, stray,
like her mad sisters her own kindred slay?
Why she not follow, where they led the way ?'
Down a steep yawning cave, where yews displayed
In arches meet, and lend a baleful shade,
Through silent labyrinths a passage lies
To mournful regions, and infernal skies.
Here Styx exhales its noisome clouds, and here,
The funeral rites once paid, all souls appear.
Stiff cold, and horror with a ghastly face
And staring eyes, infest the dreary place.
Ghosts new arriv'd, and strangers to these plains,
Know not the palace where grim Pluto reigns :
They journey doubtful, nor the road can tell
Which leads to the metropolis of hell.
HIUW.
A*
^:.-i^>^j:i#t t^+^^J"*' y '. - **
:*i i.
• in
A thOMMM OVeanCS those* towers
A taona mil gates for ever open stand.
As afl the rivers djsettpoga'd, And root* '
For sil Mr waters in eld oeearrtwetab;
So thhvvast dry worlds of shades ranelvcs,
asm apajoa ~sjrp sniesone sub or wanse sae'lenves*
Tbsf sn^wesed spec tret freely rove, and show
Whatever they lov*d on earth, they love below*
Uka lawyera still, or right or wrong, sseiport,
Tbecoofntasssaoothfye^toPtatofrc*p^
flttil ahry heroes theogbts of glory Are,
StnTwie dead poet strings hn oeatUess lyre,
And Invssje sfjg with nmeled darts expire*
The onsen of braveri, to gratify her hate,
And snathe iBDjnartal wrath, forgets her slate*
Dawn ftssa thnieahns of day to reahnt of night,
Thagfsddass swIrbptecj^stBtBS her inajha<
At hett aulvu, tln> noise heVa^orter beard.
The* Mossnias dog M» triple head npwafd;
Thrice irons three gilsly throats hehowNpvofonnd,
Than issjihont concW, aid stretehM along the
\
The tranbUog threshold, wtteb^fetnraia pressM,
The weight of sneh divinity confess1*.
Before a lofty naarnentine gate,
Which doaM a tower of brass, the Forks sate:
Misnbapen forass treniondoBs to the sight,
Tiny irselacable fad danghtrri of the Night
A soenanng whip each bloody sister shakes, '
Or free* her trasses eosabs the coring snakes*
Bat now great Jane/a majesty was known ;
Throngh the thick gloom ail heavenly brinj* aha
is
.■\-4 V ^ — ...
us nana.
rithpain, >
•gain. )
160 OVID'S mbtamorphosbs. Bo%h 4.
The hideous monsters their obedience show'd,
And, rising from their seats, submissive bow*d.
Ttiw is the place of woe, here groan the dead,
Huge Tityus o'er nine acres here is spread.
Fruitful for pain the* immortal liver breeds,
Still grows, and still the* insatiate vulture feeds.
Poor Tantalus to taste the water tries,
But from his lips the faithless water flies ;
Then thinks the bending tree he can command ;
The tree starts backwards, and eludes his hand.
The labour too of Sisyphus is vain,
Up the steep mount he heaves the stone wit
Down from the summit rolls the stone again.
The Belides their leaky vessels still
Are ever filling, and yet never fill ;
Doom'd to this punishment for blood they shed.
For bridegroom slaughter^ in the bridal bed.
Stretch'd on the rolling wheel Txion lies;
Himself he follows, and himself he flies :
Ixion, tortured, Juno sternly ey'd,
Then turn'd, and toiling Sisyphus espy'd :
* And why/ she said, * so wretched is the fate
Of him, whose brother proudly reigns in state?
Yet still my altars unadortl have been
By Atharaas and his presumptuous queen.'
What eaus'd her hate the goddess thus confess'd,
What caus'd her journey now was more than guesjs'd.
That hate, relentless, its revenge did want,
And that revenge the Furies soon could grant;
They could the glory of proud Thebes efface,
And hide in ruin the Cadmean race.
For tlits she largely promises, intreats,
And to intreaties adds imperial threats.
B09k 4 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 161
Then fell Tisiphone with rage was stung,
And from her mouth the' untwisted serpents flung -,
rTo gain this trifling boon there is no need/
She cried, ' in formal speeches to proceed.
Whatever thou conimand'st to do is done;
Believe it finish'd, though not yet begun.
Bat from these melancholy seats repair
To happier mansions, and to purer air/
She spoke ; the goddess, darting upwards, flies.
And joyous reascends her native skies ;
Nor enter'd there, till round her Iris threw
Ambrosia] sweets, and ponr'd celestial dew.
The faithful Fury, guiltless of delays,
With cruel haste the dire command obeys.
Girt in a bloody gown, a torch she shakes,
And round her neck twines speckled wreaths of
Fear and dismay, and agonizing pain, [snakes ;
With frantic rage complete her loveless train.
To Thebes her flight she sped, and hell forsook,
At her approach the Theban turrets shook ;
The sun shrunk back, thick clouds the day overcast,
And springing greens were wither'd as she pass'd.
Now dismal yellings heard, strange spectres seen,
Confound as much the monarch as the queen ;
In vain to quit the palace they prepared,
Tisiphone was there, and kept the ward.
She wide extended her unfriendly arms,
And all the Fury lavish'd all her harms.
Part. of her tresses loudly hiss, and part
Spread poison, as their forky tongues they dart,
llien from her middle locks two snakes she drew,
Whose merit from superior mischief grew;
The* envenom'd rain, thrown with spiteful care,
Clung to the bosoms of the hapless pair.
162 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 4
The hapless pair soon with wild thoughts were fir'd,
And madness by a thousand ways inspir'd.
Tis true, the' unwounded body still was sound,
But 'twas the soul which felt the deadly wound.
Nor did the' unsated monster here give o'er,
But dealt of plagues afresh unnumber'd store.
Each baneful juice too well she understood,
Foam, chnrn'd by Cerberus and Hydra's blood ;
Not hemlock and cold aconite she chose,
Delighted in variety of woes.
Whatever can untune the* harmonious son),
And its mild reasoning faculties control,
Give false ideas, raise desires profane,
And whirl in eddies the tumultuous brain,
Mix'd with curs'd art, she direfully around
Through all their nerves diffns'd the sad compound :
Then toss'd her torch in circles still the same,
Improv'd their rage, and added flame to flame.
The grinning fury ber own conquest spied, }
And to her rueful shades returned with pride, >
And threw the' exhausted, useless snakes aside. )
Now Athamas cries out, his reason fled,
* Here, fellow-hunters, let the toils be spread ;
I saw a lioness in quest of food,
With her two young, run roaring in this wood.'
Again the fancied savages were seen,
As through his palace still he chas'd his queen ;
Then tore Learchns from her breast. The child
Stretch'd little arms, and on its father sniil'd :
A father now no more ; whojaow begun
Around his head to whirl his giddy son,
And, quite insensible to nature's call,
The helpless infant flung against the wall*
. T...ij.i _ ....
The same mad poison fai the mother wroagfaft;
Yoaag MettcerU in her am ibe etnaht,
Awl with emorderVl tresses, bowling, erne, .
He mt of Beeches Jeno tosahw to beer,
Awl said, « Thy frster-fod hat cost tin* te/
Aifckthewitood^whoifl ride the hMfiMj him
Bedlewjcwww^ajidlMllow'diitoeafei: *
The smsdssrtfbrwaids ma bending stop,
And cast a draedfiri covert o'er the deep.
TW wretched Iao^ oa destraction heat, .
Climb* ap theettff; sach streaafeswferylrati
Theacje with her feiltkei boy, who wept to vela,
AtosttboUs|»ii>gstoplm^dmtetbemaJa.
Her alecs* mto toecfad Cytfaereas breast,
Ami la soft soeads she Neptaae the* eddraaMt
4 Great fed of waters! whose eiteaded sway
Isaert tolanwaomhe**eosades«1hofr^; .
1^ act the aeHo/Yeewi thee b^leeoB, .
Iacreaat thy sabjfrctfods, nor yet diiiwin
To add my kindred to that glorioas train ;
If from the sen I may sack boaonn claim,
If lb desert, that from the sea I came,
As Grecian poets artrally have sang,
Aad ia the assae cosrfeard, from whence I sprang,1
Fleerd, Neptaae aodded his assent, aad tree
Both soon became from frail mortality.
He gave them tarsi aad majesty divine,
And bad them shot eJeag thefbamy brine*
For MeUeerta is Paheauo known,
And laa owce, fcewcothee is grow*
164 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Btvk 4.
THE TRANSFORM A.TION OF TOR THEBAN MATRON t.
Tlie Theban matrons their lov'd queen pursued,
And, tracing to the rock, her footsteps view'd.
Too certain of her fate, they rend the skies
With piteous shrieks and lamentable cries.
All beat their breasts, and Jano all upbraid,
Who still remember'd a deluded maid ;
Who, still revengeful for one stol'n embrace,
Thus wreak'd her bate on the Cadmean race.
This Jnno heard; * And shall such eift,' she cried,
' Dispute my justice, or my power deride?
Yon too shall feel my wrath, not idly spent,
A goddess never for insults was meant'
She who lov'd most, and who most lov'd had been,
Said, * Not the waves shall part me from my queen.'
She strove to plunge into the roaring flood ;
Fix'd to the stone, a stone herself she stood.
This, on her breast would rain ber blows repeat,
Her stiffened hands reros'd lier breast to beat :
That, stretch'd her arms unto the seas, in vain
Her arms she laboured to nnstretch again.
To tear her comely locks another tried,
Both comely locks and fingers petrified.
Part thus : but Juuo with a softer mind
Part doom'd to mix among the feather'd kind ;
Transfbrm'd, the name of Theban birds they kee
And skim the surface of that ratal deep.
CADMUS AND HIS QUEEN TRANSFORMED TO
SERPENTS.
Meantime the wretched Cadmus mourns,
knows
That they who mortal fell, immortal rose.
■w^**^^*-
Bo§k 4. OVID'8 MBTAMOBPHOSE*. 165
With a long series of new ills opprestfd,
He droops, and all the man forsakes his breast.
Strange prodigies confound his frighted eyes,
From the fair city, which he rais'd, lie flies;
As if misfortune not pursued his race,
But only hung o'er that devoted place.
Resolv'd by sea to seek some distant land,
At last be safely gain'd the* Illyrian strand.
Cheerless himself, his consort still he cheers,
Hoary and loaden'd both with woes and years.
Then to recount- past sorrows they begin,
And trace them to the gloomy origin :
' Tliat serpent sore was hallow*d, Cadmus cried,
* Which once my spear transfix'd with fooKsh pride -,
When the big teeth, a seed before unknown, 1
By me along the wondering glebe were sown, r
And sprouting armies by themselves overthrown. }
If thence the wrath of heaven on me is bent,
May lieaven conclude it with one sad event ;
To an extended serpent change the man :'
And while he spoke the wish'd-for change began.
His skin with sea-green spots was varied round,
And on his belly prone he press'd the ground :
He glittered soon with many a golden scale,
And his shrunk legs clos'd in a *piry tail.
Arms yet remain'd, remaining arms he spread
To his lov'd wife, and human tears yet shed.
* Come, my Harmonia, come, thy face recline
Down to my face, still touch what still is mine.
O ! let these hands, while hands, be gently press'd,
While yet the serpent has not all possess'd.'
More he had spoke, but strove to speak in vain,
The forky tongue refund to tell his pain,
And learn'd in hissingB only to complain.
VOL. 1. M
\
166 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 4.
Then shriek'd Hannonia, * Stay, my Cadrans, stay;
Glide not in such a monstrous shape away !
Destruction, like impetuous waves, rolls on :
Where are thy feet, thy legs, thy shoulders gone ?
Chang'd is thy visage, changed is all thy frame,
Cadmus is only Cadmus now in name.
Ye gods, my Cadmus to himself restore,
Or me like him transform ; I ask no more.1
The husband-serpent show'd he still had thought,
With wonted fondness an embrace he sought ;
Play'd round her neck, in many a harmless twist,
And lick'd that bosom, which a man he kiss'd.
The lookers-on (for lookers-on there were)
Shock'd at the sight, half-died away with fear.
The transformation was again renew'd,
And, like the husband, chang'd the wife they view'd.
Both serpents now, with fold involved in fold,
To the next covert amicably roll'd.
There curTd they lie, or wave along the green,
Fearless see men, by men are fearless seen,
Still mild,and conscious what they once have been,
1
THE STORY OF PERSEUS.
Yet though this harsh inglorious rate they found,
Each in the deathless grandson liv'd renown'd ;
Through conquer'd India Bacchus nobly rode,
And Greece with temples hail'd the conquering god.
In Argos only proud Acrisius reign'd,
Who all the consecrated rites profan'd.
Audacious wretch ! thus Bacchus to deny,
And the great Thunderer's great son defy !
Nor him alone : thy daughter vainly strove,
Brave Perseus of celestial stem to prove,
And herself pregnant by a golden Jove.
MM
Book 4. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 167
Yet this was true, and troth in time prevails;
Acrisius uow his unbelief bewails.
His former thought, an impious thought he found,
And both the hero and the god were own'd.
He saw already one in heaven was plac'd,
And one with more than mortal triumphs grac'd.
The victor Perseuf , with the gorgon-bead,
O'er Libyan sands Lib airy journey sped.
The gory drops distill'd as swift he flew,
And from each drop envenom'd serpents grew.
The mischiefs brooded on the barren plains,
And still the* unhappy fruitfulness remains.
ATLAS TRANSFORMED TO A MOUNTAIN.
Thence Perseus, like a cloud, by storms was
driv'n,
Through all the' expanse beneath the cope of
The jarring winds unable to control, [heav'n.
He saw the southern and the northern pole :
And eastward thrice and westward thrice was
whiiTd,
\nd from the skies surveyed the nether world.
Hut when gray evening sliow'd the verge of night,
lie fear'd in darkness to pursue his flight.
He pois'd Ids pinions, and forgot to soar,
And, sinking, clos'd them on the' Hesperian shore :
Then beg'd to rest, till Lucifer begun
To wake the morn, the morn to wake the sun.
Here Atlas reign'd, of more than human size,
And in liis kingdom the world's limit lies.
Here Titan bids his wearied coursers sleep,
And cools the burning axle in the deep.
The mighty monarch, uncontrol'd, alone [known.
His sceptre sways: no neighbouring states are
168 OVID'S MVrAMORPHOm. Book*
A thousand flocks on shady mountain* fed,
A thousand herds o'er grassy plains were spread
Here wondrous trees their shining stores unfold,
Their shining stores too wondrous to be told ;
Their leaves, their branches, and their apples gold.
Then Perseus the gigantic prince address'd, •
Humbly implored a hospitable rent.
* If bold exploits thy admiration fire/
He said, * I faucy mine thon wilt admire :
Or if the glory of a race can move,
Not mean my glory, for I spring from Jove.'
At this confession Atlas ghastly *tar'd,
Mindful of what an oracle decl.ir*d,
That the dark womb of time conccal'd a day,
Which should, disclos'd, the bloomy gold bctraj
All should at once be ravish'd from his eyes,
And Jove's own progeny enjoy the price.
For this the fruit he loftily immur'd,
And a fierce dragon the strait pass secur'd.
For this all strangers he forbad to land,
And drove them from the' inhospitable strand.
To Perseus then : * Fly quickly, fly this coast
Nor falsely dare thy acts and race to boast.'
In vain the hero for one night entreats, [th
Threatening he storms, and next adds for
By strength not Perseus could himself defei
For who in strength with Atlas could conte-
' But since short rest to me thou wilt not g
A gift of endless rest from me receive.1
He said, and backward turn'd ; no more co
The present, and Medusa's head reveal'd.
Soon the high Atlas a high mountain stood
His locks and beard became a leafy wood
Book 4. OVID'S METAMORPHOSE*. 169
His bands and shoulders into ridges went,
The summit-bead still crown'd the steep ascent;
His bones a solid rocky hardness gain'd:
He, thus immensely grown, as fate ordain*d,
The stars, the heavens, and all the gods sustain'
itain'd.)
ANDROMEDA RESCUED FROM THE 8EArMONStER,
Now JEolus had with strong chains confin'd,
And deep imprisoned every blustering wind j
The rising Phosphor, with a purple light,
Did sluggish mortals to new toils invite*
His feet again the valiant Perseus plumes,
And his keen sabre in his hand resumes :
Then nobly spurs the ground, and upward springs,
And cuts the liquid air with sounding wings.
O'er various seas, and various lands he passed,
Till Ethiopia's shore appear'd at last
Andromeda was there, doom'd to atone
By her own ruin, follies not her own :
And if injustice in a god can be,
Such was the Libyan god's unjust decree.
Chain'd to a rock she stood, young Perseus stay'd
His rapid flight to view the beauteous maid ;
So sweet her frame, so exquisitely fine,
She seem'd a statue by a hand divine ;
Had not the wind her waving tresses show'd,
And down her cheeks the melting sorrows flow'd.
Her faultless form the hero's bosom fires,
The more he looks the more he still admires.
The* admirer almost bad forgot to fly,
And swift descended fluttering from on high.
' O virgin ! worthy no such chains to prove,
But pleating chains in the soft folds of love;
170 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 4.
Thy country and thy name,' he said, ' disclose,
And give a true rehearsal of thy woes.1
A quick reply her bashfulness refus'd,
To the free converse of a man tinus'd.
Her rising blushes had concealment found
From her spread hands, but that her hands were
She acted to her full extent of pow'r, [bound.
And bath'd her race with a fresh silent sbow'r:
But by degrees, in innocence grown bold,
Her name, her country, and her birth she told ;
And how she suffered for her mother's pride,
Who with the Nereids once in beauty vied.
Part yet untold, the seas began to roar,
And mounting billows tumbled to the shore ;
Above the waves a monster rais'd his head,
His body o'er the deep was widely spread :
Onward he flounc'd, aloud the virgin cries ;
Each parent to her shrieks in shrieks replies ;
But she had deepest cause to rend the skies.
Weeping, to her they cling ; no sign appears
Of help, they only lend their helpless tears.
* Too long you vent your sorrows,' Perseus said,
' Short is the hour and swift the time of aid :
In me the son of thundering Jove behold,
Got in a kindly shower of fruitful gold.
Medusa's snaky head is now my prey,
And through the clouds I boldly wing my way.
If such desert be worthy of esteem,
Add, if your daughter I from death redeem,
Shall she be mine ? Shall it not then be thought
A bride so lovely was too cheaply bought?
For her my arms I willingly employ,
If I may beauties which I save enjoy.'
}
Book 4. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 171
The parents eagerly the terms embrace ;
For who would slight such terms io such a case ?
Nor her alone they promise, but beside,
The dowry of a kingdom with the bride.
As well-rigM gallies which slaves sweating row,
With their sharp beaks the whiten'd ocean plough ;
So when the monster mov'd, still at his back
The farrow'd waters left the foamy track.
Now to the rock he was advanc'd so nigh,
WhirPd from a sling a stone the space would fly.
Then bounding upwards the brave Perseus sprung.
And in mid air on hovering pinions hung.
His shadow quickly floated on the main,
The monster could not his wild rage restrain,
But at the floating shadow leap'd in vain.
As when Jove's bird a speckled serpent spies,
Which in the shine of Phoebus basking lies,
Unseen he souses down and bears away,
Truss'd from behind, the vainly-hissing prey ;
To writhe his neck the labour nought avails,
Too deep the' imperial talons pierce his scales :
Thus the winged hero now descends, now soars,
And at his pleasure the vast monster gores :
Full in his back, swift-stooping from above,
The crooked sabre to its hilt he drove.
The monster rag*d impatient of the pain,
First bounded high and then sunk low again :
Now like a savage boar when chaf d with wounds.
And bay'd with opening mouths of hungry hounds,
He on the foe turns with collected might,
Who still eludes bim with an airy flight,
And wheeling round the scary armour tries
Of his thick sides, his thinner tail now phes ;
r
172 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 4.
Till from repeated strokes out gush'd a flood,
And the waves reddeo'd with the streaming blood.
At last the dropping wings, befoam'd all o'er
With flaggy heaviness their master bore ;
A rock be spied, whose humble head was low,
Bare at an ebb, bat covered at a flow ;
A ridgy hold ; be thither flying gain'd,
And with one hand his bending weight sustain d ;
With the* other vigorous blows he dealt around.
And the home-thrusts the' expiring monster own'd.
In deafening shouts the glad applauses rise,
And peal on peal runs rattling through the skies.
The saviour-youth the royal pair confess, [bless :
And with beav'd hands their daughter's bridegroom
The beauteous bride moves on, now loos'd from
chains,
The cause and sweet reward of all the hero's paint.
Meantime on shore triumphant Perseus stood,
And purg'd his hands, smear'd with the monster's
Then in the windings of a sandy bed [blood ;
Compos'd Medusa's execrable head :
But to prevent the roughness, leaves he threw,
Aud young green twigs which soft in waters grew
There soft and full of sap ; but here when lay'd,
Touch'd by the head that softness soon decay'd :
The wonted flexibility quite gone,
The tender scions harden'd into stone.
Fresh juicy twigs surprised, the Nereids brought
Fresh juicy twigs the same contagion caught :
The nyroplis the petrifying seeds still keep,
And propagate the wonder through the deep.
The pliant sprays of coral yet declare
Their stiffening nature when expos'd to air :
B*ok 4. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 173
Those sprays, which did like bending osienmove, 1
Snatctfd from their element, obdurate prove, r
And shrubs beneath the waves,grow stones above. 3
Tbe great immortals grateful Perseus prais'd,
And to three powers three turfy altars rais'd.
To Hermes tlits ; and that he did assign
To Pallas; the mid honours, Jove, were thine*
He hastes for Pallas a white cow to cull,
A calf for Hermes, but for Jove a bull.
Then seizVI the prize of his victorious fight,
Andromeda, and claim'd the nuptial rite.
Andromeda alone be greatly sought,
The dowry kingdom was not worth his thought
Pleas'd Hymen now his golden torch displays,
With rich oblations fragrant altars blaze,
Sweet wreaths of choicest flowers are hung on high,
And cloudless pleasure smiles in every eye :
The melting music melting thoughts inspires,
And warbling songsters aid the warbling lyres.
The palace opens wide in pompous state,
And, by his peers surrounded, Cepheus sate :
A feast was serv'd fit for a king to give,
And fit for godlike heroes to receive
The banquet ended, the gay cheerful bowl
Mov'd round and brightenVl and enlarged each soul.
Then Perseus asks, ' what customs there obtain'd,
And by what laws the people were restrain'd T
Which told, the teller a like freedom takes,
And to the warrior his petition makes,
To know what arts had won Medusa's snakes.
THE STORY OF MEDUSA'S BEAD.
Hie hero with his just request complies,
Shows how a vale beneath cold Atlas ties,
J
ir^^,>
174 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book
Where with aspiring mountains fenc'd around,
He the two daughters of old Phorcus found :
Fate bad one common eye to both assign'd,
Each saw by tarns, and each by turns was blinc
But while one strove to lend ber sister sight,
He stretch'd his hand and stole their mutual light
And left both eyeless, both involv'd in night.
Through devious wilds and trackless woods 1
pass'd,
And at the Gorgon seats arriv'd at last :
But as he journey'd, pensive he survey'd
What wasteful havoc dire Medusa made.
Here stood still breathing statues, men before ;
There rampant lions seem'd in stone to roar :
Nor did he yet affrighted quit the field,
But in the mirror of his polish'd shield
Reflected, saw Medusa slumbers take,
And not one serpent by good chance awake.
Then backward an unerring blow he sped,
And from her body lop'd at once ber head :
The gore prolific prov'd : with sudden force
Sprung Pegasus, and wing'd his airy course.
The heaven-born warrior faithfully went on,
And told the numerous dangers which he run :
What subject seas, what lands he had in view,
And nigh what stars the' advent* rous hero flew.
At last he silent sat ; the listening throng
Sigh'd at the pause of his delightful tongue.
Some beg'd to know why this alone should weai
Of all the sisters, such destructive hair?
Great Perseus then : ' With me you shall prev;
Worth the relation to relate a tale.
Medusa once had charms, to gain her love
A rival crowd of envious lovers strove :
Boole 4. ovid's metamorphoses.
175
They who have seen her own they ne'er did trace
More moving features in a sweeter face :
Yet above all her length of hair they own,
In golden ringlets wav'd, and graceful shone.
Her Neptune saw, and, with such beauties fiVd,
Resolv'd to compass what his soul desir'd.
In chaste Minerva's fane, he, lustful, stay'd,
And seiz'd and rifled the young blushing maid.
The bashful goddess turn'd her eyes away,
Nor durst such bold impurity survey;
But on the ravish'd virgin vengeance takes,
Her shining hair is chang'd to hissing snakes.
These in her aegis Pallas joys to bear;
The hissing snakes her foes more sure ensnare,
Than they did lovers once! when shining hair.
ire, i
Or/ J
END OF VOL. I.
Wbtttiogbam and Rowland, Printers, Gntwell Street, London.
i !
F
I
i
\
OVID'S
METAMORPHOSES
TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN,
BY
MAYNWARING, CROXALL,
AND OTHERS.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
Print** at t&e fetan&opt $re#,
BY WHlTHNGHAlf AND ROWLAND,
Gatmxli Stmt i
PUBLISHED BY 80TTABY, EVANCE, AND FOX, STATIONERS'
COURT, LODGATE STREET; SHARPE AND HAILE8, PICCA-
DULY; AND TAYLOR AND HESSEY, FLEET STREET.
1812.
i
CONTENTS.
VOL. II.
BOOK V.
MR. MAYNWAR1NG.
Paie
The Story of Perseus continued 5
Minerva's Interview with the Moses 16
Hie Fate of Pyrenens 17
TheStory of the Pierides 19
The Song of the Pierides > 20
The Song of the Moses 21
The Rape of Proserpine 23-
Cyane dissolves to a Fountain 25
A Boy transformed to an Eft ib.
The Transformation of Ascalaphns into an Owl 29
The Daughters of Acheloos transformed to
Sirens 50
The Story of Arethnsa 31
The Transformation of Lyncos 35
The Pierides transformed to Magpies 37
BOOK VI.
MR. CROXALL.
The Transformation of Arachne to a Spider... 37
The Story of Niobe 43
The Transformation of Niobe 50
The Peasants of Lycia transformed to Frogs 51
The Fate of Marsyas..... 54
The Story of Pelops 55
The Story of Tereos, Procne, and Philomela ib.
Boreas in love • 69
BOOK VII.
The Story of Medea and Jason, by Tate...... 7-2
The Dragon's Teeth transformed to Men ; by
the same ,...„ 76
}
iV CONTENTS.
Page
Old JE&on restored to youth; by Tate 79
The Death of Peliad ; by the same 86
The Story of &geus ; by the same 90
The Story of /nts changed to Men ; by Stone-
street 96
The Story of Cephalns and Procris ; by Tate 103
BOOK VIII.
The Story of Nisns and Scylla; by Croxall... 109
The Labyrinth ; by the same 116
The Story of Daedalus and Icarus; by the same 117
The Story of Meleager and Atalanta; by
Dryden 121
The Transformation of the Naiads; by Vernon 134
Perimele turned into an Island ; by the same 136
The Story of Baucis and Philemon ; by Dryden ib.
The Changes of Proteus; by Vernon 143
The Story of Erisichthon; by the same 144-
The Description of Famine ; by the same..... 146
The Transformation of Erisichthon's Daughter;
by the same 149
BOOK IX.
The Story of Achelotts and Hercules; by Gay 152
The Death of Nessus the Centaur ; by the same 156
The Death of Hercules; by Gay 157
The Transformation of Lichas into a Rock; by
the same 160
The Apotheosis of Hercules; by the same... 161
The Transformation of Galantlris : by the same 162
The Fable of Dryope : by Pope 164
Iolaus restored to Youth; by Gay 168
The Prophecy of Themis : by the same ib.
The Debate of the Gods : by tlie same 169
The Passion of Byblis; by Harvey . 170
The Fable of Tphis and Ianthe ; by Dryden.. 177 '
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK V.
TRANSLATED BY MAYNWARING.
THE 'STORY OP PERSEUS CONTINUED.
While Perseus entertain'd with this report
His father Gepheus, and the listening court,
Within the palace walls was heard aloud
The roaring noise of some unruly crowd ;
Not like the songs which cheerful friends prepare
For nuptial days, but sounds that threaten'd war;
And all the pleasures of this happy feast,
To tumult turn'd, in wild disorder ceas'd.
So when the sea is calm, we often find
A storm rais'd sudden by some furious wind.
Chief in the riot Phineus first appeared,
(The rash ringleader of tliis boistrous herd),
And brandishing bis brazen-pointed lance,
• Behold/ he said, * an injur'd man advance,
Stung with resentment for his ravish'd wife;
Nor shall thy wings, O Perseus, save thy life ;
Nor Jove himself: though we've been often told
Who got thee in the form of tempting gold/ .
His lance was aim'd, when Cepheus ran and said,
* Hold, brother, hold ; what brutal rage has made
VOL. II. B
#
6 OVID** IttTAMOB
Your frantic mind so black a ■
Are theie the thiaki that yon
Thii the reward tint to bis wi
Whose timely valour sav'd Ad
Nor wai it he, if you would n
That fore'd her from job, bat
Of enviont Nereids, aod Jove
And that devouring monster o
That ready with bis jaw* wide
To eat my child, the Wrest of
You lost her then when ihe se-
And wish'd perhaps her death,
With my afflictions. Not con
Andromeda in chains, unhelp'ri
Herri
II yc
Export hn life the dying m
And ihall yon claim bis merits
Her charms so great, yon shou'd
That bleating on the rocks, wi
But now let Person bear hu j.
By service gain'd, by promis'd
To him I owe it, that my age i
Still with a child : nor think th
Pcrsens to thee, bnt to the losi
Pbineos on him and Perseus
Bis eyes in silent rape, and see
Which to deatroy ; till reralalc
He threw his spear with tlie re
HU fury gnre him, and at Pen
Bat, missing Perseus, in his sei
Who, springing nimbly up, rett
And almost plung'd it in his rii
Bnt he fer safety to the altar n
(Unfit protection for so vile a i
£*•*&> OVIB'S MITAMOmrHOIIt. 7
Yet ww the stroke not vain, m Rhsetat found,
Who in his brow received a mortal wound ;
Headlong he tumbled when his senll was broke,
From which his friends the mtal weapon took,
While he lay trembling, and his gushing blood
In crimson streams around the table fiowVL
But this provok'd the* unruly rabble worse;
They flung their darts; and some in loud discourse
To death young Perseus and the monarch doom ;
But Cepheus left before the guilty room,
With grief appealing to the gods above,
Who laws of hospitality approve,
Who faith protect, and succour injurM right,
That he was guiltless of tliis barbarous fight.
Pallas her brother Perseus close attends,
And with her ample shield from harm defends,
Raising a sprightly courage in his heart :
But Indian Amis took the weaker part,
Born in the crystal grottos of the sea;
limnatft son, a finny nymph, and she
Daughter of Ganges ; graceful was his mien,
His person lovely, and his age sixteen.
His habit made his native beauty more;
A purple mantle fring'd with gold be wore ;
H is neck well-turn'd, with golden chains was grac*d ;
His hair, with mirth perram'd, was nicely dress*d.
Though with just aim he could the javelin throw,
Yet with more skill he drew the bending bow.;
And now was drawing it with artful hand,
When Perseus, snatching up a flaming brand,
Whirfd sodden at his face the burning wood,
Crusb'd bis eyes in, and quench'd the fire with blood ;
Through the soft skin the splinter'd bones appear,
And spoil'd the face that lately was so fair.
A
8 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 5.
When Lycabaa his Athis thus beheld,
How was his heart with friendly horror fill'd !
A youth so noble, to his soul so dear.
To see his shapeless look, his dying groans to hear !
He snatch'd the bow the boy was ns'd to bend,
And cry'd, « With me, false traitor ! dare contend ;
Boast not a conquest o'er a child, but tiy
Thy strength with me, who all thy powers defy
Nor think so mean an act a victory.
While yet he spoke he flung the whizzing dart,
Which pierced the plaited robe, tatmiss'dhis heart;
Perseus defied, npon him fiercely press'd
With sword nnsheath'd, and plnug*d it in his breast ;
His eyes o'erwbehn'd with night, he stumbling falls,
And with bis latest breath on Athis calls ;
Pleas'd that so near the lovely youth he lies,
He sinks bis bead npon bis friend and dies.
Next eager Phorbas, old Methion's son,
Came rushing forward with Amphimedon ;
When the smooth pavement, slippery made wit)
gore,
Trip'd up their feet, and flung 'em on the floor ;
The sword of Perseus (who by chance was nigh
Prevents their rise ; and where they rail they li«
Full in his ribs Amphimedon he smote,
And then stuck fiery Phorbas in the throat.
Eurythus lifting up his axe, the blow
Was thus prevented by liis nimble foe ;
A golden cup be seizes, high eraboss'd,
And at his head the massy goblet toss'd :
It hits, and from his forehead bruis'd rebound
And blood and brains he vomits from his wo'
With his slain fellows on the floor lie lies,
And death for ever shuts bis swimming eyes.
Book 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 9
Then Polydamon fell, a goddess-born ;
Phlegias, and Elycen with locks unshorn
Next follow'd ; next, the stroke of death he gave
To Clytus, Abarin, and Lycetus brave;
While o'er unnumber'd heaps of ghastly dead,
The Argive hero's feet triumphant tread.
But Phineus stands aloof, and dreads to feel
His rival's force, and flies his pointed steel ;
Yet threw a dart from far; by chance it lights
On Idas, who for neither party fights;
But wounded sternly thus to Phineus said,
* Since of a neuter thou a foe hast made,
This T return thee ;' drawing from bis side
The dart, which as he strove to fling he died.
Odites fell by Clyinenus's sword,
The Cephen court had not a greater lord.
Hypseus his blade does in Protenor sheath,
But brave Lyncides soon reveng'd his death.
Here too was old Emathion, one that fear'd
The gods, and in the cause of heaven appear'd,
Who only wishing the success of right,
And by bis age exempted from the fight,
Both sides alike condemns : ' This impious war
Cease, cease,' he cries, ' these bloody broils forbear.'
This scarce the sage with high concern had said,
When Chromis at a blow struck off bis head ;
Which dropping, on the royal altar roll'd,
Still staring on the crowd with aspect bold ; .
And still it seem'd their horrid strife to blame,
In life and death his pious zeal the same ;
While clinging to the horns the trunk expires,
The sever'd head consumes amidst the fires.
Then Phineus, who from far his. javelin threw,
Broteas and Amnion, twins and brothers, slew ;, .
10 .OVID** METAMOMPHOm. Book 5.
For knotted gauntlets matchless m the field,
But gauntlets must to swords and javelins yield.
Ampycos next, with hallowM fillets bound, )
As Ores' priest, and with a mitre crown'd, >
His spear transfiVdyand struck him to the ground, j
O Iapetides ! with pain 1 tell
How you, sweet lyrist, m the riot fell ;
What worse than brutal rage his breast could fill,
Who did thy blood, O bard celestial ! spill?
Kindly yon press'd amid the princely throng,
To crown the feast, and give the nuptial song :
Discord abhorM the music of thy lyre,
Whose notes did gentle peace so well inspire;
Thee, when fierce Pettalns far off espied,
Defenceless with thy harp (he scoffing cried),
' Go, to the ghosts thy soothing lessons play ;
We loath thy lyre, and scorn thy peaceful lay :'—
And, as again he fiercely bid him go,
He piere'd bis temples with a mortal blow.
His harp he held, though sinking on the ground, )
Whose strings in death his trembling fingers found >
By chance, and tun'd by chance a dying sound. )
With grief Lycormas saw him fall from far,
And, wresting from the door a massy bar,
Full in his poll lays on a load of knocks,
Which stan him, and be falls tike a devoted ox*
Another bar Pelates would have snatch'd,
But Gorythns his motions slily watch'd ;
He darts his weapon from a private stand,
And rivets to the post his veiny hand :
When straight a missive spear transfix'd his side,
By Abas thrown, and as be hung he died.
Melaneus on the prince's side was slain :
And Dorylas, who own'd a fertile plain,
Btok 6. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. >1
Of Nasaraonta's field the wealthy lord, [hoard.
Whose crowded barns could scarce contain their
A whizzing spear obliquely gave a blow,
Stuck in his groin, and piere'd the nerves below;
His foe beheld bis eyes convulsive roll,
His ebbing veins, and bis departing soul ;
Then taunting said, ' Of all thy spacious plains,
This spot thy only property remains.'
He left him thus ; but had no sooner left,
Than Perseus in revenge his nostrils cleft:
From bis friend's breast the murdering dart he drew,
And the same weapon at the murderer threw ;
His bead in halves the darted javelin cut,
And on each side the brain name issuing out.
Fortune bis friend, bis deaths around he deals,
And this his lance, and that his falchion feels :
Now Clytius dies, and by a<hfferent wound,
The twm,>his brother Chuns, bites the ground.
In his rent jaw the bearded weapon sticks,
And the steel'-d dart does Clytius' thigh transfix.
With these Meodesian Celadon he slew ;
And Astreus next, whose mother was a Jew,
His sice uncertain. Then by Perseus fell
JEthion, who could things to come foretel;
But now he knows not whence the javelin flies
That wounds his breast, nor by whose arm he dies.
The squire to Puineua next his valour tried,
And fierce Agyrtes stairfd with parricide.
As these are stain, fresh numbers still appear,
And wage with Perseus an unequal war;
To rob him of his right, the maid he won,
By honour, promise, and desert bis own.
With him the rather of the beauteous bride,
The mother, and the frighted virgin, side ;
12 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book
With shrieks and doleful cries they rend the air
Their shrieks confounded with the din of war,
With clashing arms, and groaning* of the slain,
They grieve unpitied, and unheard complain.
The floor with ruddy streams BeUona stains,
And Phinens anew war with doable rage maintai
Perseus begirt, from all around they poor
Their lances on him, a tempestuous showTr,
Ainr*d all at him ; a cloud of darts and spears,
Or blind his eyes, or whistle round his ears.
Their numbers to resist, against the wall
He guards his back secure, and dares them alL
Here from the kit Molpeus renews the fight,
And bold Ethemon presses on the right :
As when a hungry tiger near him hears
Two lowing herds, awhile be both forbears;
Nor can his hopes of this or that renounce,
So strong be lusts to prey on both at once ;
Thus Perseus now with that, or this, is loth
To war distinct, but fain would fall on both.
And first Chaonian Molpeus felt bis blow,
And fled, and never after fac'd his foe ;
Then fierce Ethemon, as he turn'd his back,
Hurried with fury, aiming at his neck,
His brandisfa'd sword against the marble struck
With all his might ; the brittle weapon broke,
And in his throat the point rebounding stuck.
Too slight the wound for life to issue thence,
And yet too great for battle or defence ;
His arms extended in this piteous state,
For mercy be would sue, but sues too late ;
Perseus has in his bosom plung'd the sword,
And, ere he speaks, the wound prevents the wo
Boek 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. IS
The crowds increasing, and his friends distress'd,
Himself by warring multitudes oppress'd ;
' Since thus unequally you fight, 'tis time/
He cried, ' to punish your presumptuous crime;
Beware, my friends ;? his friends were soon pre- )
par'd, (
Their sight averting, high the head he rear'd, i
And Gorgon on his foes severely star'd. }
• Vain shift r says Thescelus, with aspect bold,
Thee, and thy bugbear monster,. I behold
With scorn ;' he lifts his arm, but ere he threw
The dart, the hero to a statue grew.
In the same posture still the marble stands,
And holds the warrior's weapons in its hands.
Amphyz, whom yet this wonder can't alarm, .
Heaves at .Lyncides' breast his impious arm ; '
Bat, while thus daringly he presses on,
His weapon and his arm are turn'd to stone.
Next N ileus, he who vainly said he ow'd
His origin to Nile's prolific flood ;
Who on his shield seven silver rivers bore,
His birth to witness by the arms he wore;
Full of his sev*n-fold rather, thus express'd
His. boast to Perseus, and his pride confess'd :
' See whence we sprung ; let this thy comfort be
In tby sure death, that thou didst die by me I'
While yet he spoke, the dying accents hung
In sounds imperfect on his marble tongue ;
Though chang'd to stone, his lips he seem'd to
stretch, [speech.
And through the' insensate rock would force a
This Eryx saw, but seeing wou'd not own ; )
' The mischief by yourselves,' he cries, ' is done : >
Tis your cold courage turns your hearts to stone, j
14
OVID'S METAHORPH
Come, follow me ; fall on the str
Kill him, and you his magic arm*
Then rushing on, his arm to stril
And marbled o'er his varied fran
These for affronting Pallas wc
And justly met the death they ha
Bnt brave Aconteus, Perseus' fri
Look'd back, and met the Gorge
A statue now become, he ghastlj
And still the foe to mortal comb
Astyages the living likeness knev
On the dead stone with vengeful
Bnt impotent his rage, the jarrin.
No print upon the solid marble n
Again, as with redoubled might l
Himself astonish'd in the quarry
The vulgar deaths 'twere tedio
And fates below the dignity of vi
Their safety in their flight two he
Two hundred by Medusa's head i
Fierce Ptuneus now repents the i
And views his varied friends, a d
He knows their faces, for their hi
And thinks, not hearing him, thai
By name be begs their succour 01
Then doubts their life, and feels tl
Struck with remorse, and conscio
Convict of sin he tnrn'd his eyes j
With suppliant mien to Perseus t
* Hence with the head, as far as v
Can bear thee ; hence, O quit the
And never curse us with Medusa
That horrid head, which stiffens i
Those impious men who, daring d
B—k 5. OVID'S M BTAMOHfrHOSBJ. 15
I warr*d not with thee ont of hate or strife,
My honest cause was to defend my wife,
First pledg/d to me ; what crime couM I suppose,
To arm my friends, and vindicate my *ponse?
Bat rain, too late I see, was oar design ;
Mine was the title, bat the merit thine.
Contending made me guilty, I coufess,
Bat penitence should make tliat guilt the less :
Twas thine to conquer by Minerva's pow*r ;
Favoor*d of Heav'n, thy mercy I implore I
For life I sue, the rest to thee I yield ;
In pity from my right remove the shield.'
He suing said ; nor durst revert his eyes
On the grim bead, and Perseus thus replies :
* Coward, what is in me to grant, I will ;
Nor blood, unworthy of my valour, spill :
Fear not to perish by my vengeful sword.
From that secure ; tis all the Fates afford.
'Where I now see thee, thou shalt still be seen,
A lasting monument to please our queen ;
There still shall thy betroth'd behold her spouse,
And find his image in her father's house.'
This said; where Phineus turn'd to shun the shield,
Full in his face the staring head be held ;
As here and there he strove to turn aside,
The wonder wrought, the man was petrified :
All marble was bis frame, lus humid eyes
Drop'd tears, which hung upon the stones like ice.
In suppliant posture, with uplifted hands,
And fearful look, the guilty statue stands.
Hence Perseus to Ins native city hies,
^Victorious, and rewarded with his prise.
Conquest, o'er Pnetns the usurper, won,
He reinstates his grandsire in the throne.
16 OVID'S MET4MORPHOSE8. Book i
Praetus, bis brother dispossessed by might,
His realm enjoy'd, and still detained his right :
Bat Perseus pall'd tlie haaghty tyrant down,
And to the rightful king rcstor'd the throne.
Weak was the' usurper, as his cause was wrong
Where Gorgon's head appears, what arms are stroi
When Perseus to his host the monster held,
They soon were statues, and their king expell'd
Thence to Seriphus with the head he sails,
Whose prince his story treats as idle tales :
Lord of a little isle, he scorns to seem
Too credulous, but laughs at that and him.
Yet did he not so much suspect the truth,
As out of pride or envy hate the youth.
The Argive prince, at his contempt enrag'd,
To force his faith by fatal proof engag'd : [tak
' Friends, shut your eyes,' he cries: his shield
And to the king expos'd Medusa's snakes.
The monarch felt the power he would not own,
And stood convict of folly in the stone.
minbrya's interview with the muses.
Thus far Minerva was content to rove
With Perseus, offspring of her father Jove :
Now hid in clouds, Seriphus she forsook,
And to the Theban towers her Journey took ;
Cythnos and Oyaros, lying to the right,
She pass'd unheeded, in her eager flight ;
And choosing first on Helicon to rest,
The Virgin Muses in these words addressed :
* Me, the strange tidings of a new-found sprii
Ye learned sisters, to this mountain bring.
If all be true that Fame's wide rumours telly
'Twas Pegasus discovered first your well ;
>
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Book 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 17
Whose piercing hoof gave the soft earth a blow,
Which broke the surface where these waters flow.
I saw that horse by miracle obtain
Life, from the blood of dire Medusa slain ;
And now this equal prodigy to view,
From distant isles to fem'd Bceotia flew.'
The muse Urania said, * Whatever cause
So great a goddess to this mansion draws ;
Our shades are happy with so bright a guest,
You, Queen, are welcome, and we Muses bless'd.
What Fame has pnblish'd of our spring is true,
Thanks for our spring to Pegasus are due.'
Then with becoming courtesy she led
The curious stranger to their fountain's head ;
Who long survey'd with wonder and delight
Their sacred water, charming to the sight ;
Their ancient groves, dark grottos, shady bow*rs,
And smiling plains adorn'd with various flow'rs •-
* O happy Muses !' she with rapture cried,
' Who, safe from cares, on this fair hill reside ;
Bless'd in your seat, and free yourselves to please
With joys of study, and with glorious ease.'
THE FATE OF PYRENEU8.
Then one replies : ' O goddess, lit to guide
Our bumble works, and in our choir preside';
Who sure would wisely to these fields repair,
To taste our pleasures, and our labours share ;
Were not your virtue, and superior mind,
To higher arts and nobler deeds inclin'd ;
Justly you praise our works, and pleasing seat,
Which all might envy in this soft retreat, •
Were we secured from dangers, and from barms ;
But maids are frighten'd with the least alarms,
r
18 OVID'S METAJfORFHOf BS. list* &
And none are safe in this licentious time ;
Still fierce Pyreneus, and las daring crime,
With lasting horror strikes my feeble sight,
Nor is my mind recover^ from the fright
With Thracian arms this bold nsnrper gain'd
Daulis and Pliocis, where he proudly reign'd:
It happen'd once, as through his lands we went,
For the bright temple of Parnassus bent,
He met us there, and in his artful mind
Hiding the faithless action be design'd,
Confer'd on us (whom, oh ! too well he knew)
All honours that to goddesses are due.
" Stop, stop, ye Muses, 'tis your friend who calk,"
The tyrant said ; " behold tlte rain that fells
On every side, and that ill-boding sky,
Whose lowering face portends more storms are nigh.
Pray make my house your own ; and, void of fear,
While this bad weather lasts take shelter here.
Gods have made meaner places their resort.
And for a cottage left their shining court**
1 Oblig'd to stop, by the united force
Of pouring rains and complaisant discourse,
His courteous invitation we obey,
And in his hall resolve awhile to stay.
Soon it clear'd up ; the clouds began to fly,
The driving north refin'd the showYy sky :
Then to pursue our journey we began;
But the false traitor to his portal ran,
Stop'd our escape, the door securely barr'd,
And to our honour violence prepar'd;
But we, transform'd to birds, avoid his snare,
On pinions rising in the yielding air.
But he, by lust and indignation fir'd,
Up to his highest tower with speed retir'd,
hifk 6*. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 19
And cries, " In vain you from my arms withdrew,
The way yon go your lover will pursue,"
Then in a flying; posture wildly plac'd,
And daring from that height himself to cast,
The wretch fell headlong, and the ground bestrew'd
With broken bones, and stains of guilty blood.'
THE STORY OF THE PI BRIDES.
Hie Muse yet spoke : when they began to hear
A noise of wings that flutter^ in the ai* ; [bough,
And straight a voice, from some high-spreading
Seem'd to salute the company below.
The goddess wonderM, and inmuVd from whence
That tongue was heard, that spoke so plainly sense :
(It seem'd to her a human voice to be,
But prov'd a bird?*; for in a shady tree
Nine magpies peroh'd lament their alter*d state,
And what they hear are skilful to repeat.)
The sister to the wandering goddess said :
' These, foil'd by us, by us weve thus repaid.
These did Evippe of Faeonia bring,
With nine hard labour-pangs, to Pellafe king.
The foolish virgins of their number proud,
And pufPd with praises of the senseless crowd,
Through all Achaia, and the' JEmonian plains,
Defied ns thus to match their artless strains :
" No more, ye Thespian girls, your notes repeat,
Nor with false harmony the vulgar cheat;
In voice or skill, if you with us will vie,
As many we, in voice or skill will try.
Surrender you to us, if we excel,
Fam'd Aganippe, and Medusa's well.
The conquest yours, your prize from us shall be
The* ,/Kmathian plains to snowy Pasonej
80 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. B
The nymph* our judges." To dUpote the I
We thought a shame; bat greater sliame to
On seats of living stone the sisters sit,
And by the rivers swear to judge aright.
THB SOMG OP THE FIERI DBS.
1 Then rises one of the presmnptnoos tbi
Steps rudely forth, and first begins the son|
With vain address describes the giants wan
And to the gods their fabled acts prefers.
She sings from earth's dark womb how Typhi
And struck with mortal fear his heavenly ft
How the gods fled to Egypt's slimy soil,
And hid their beads beneath the Banks of 1
How Typbon, from the conqoer'd skies, pi
Their rooted godheads to the seven-monbVi
Forced every god, bis fory to escape,
Some beastly form to take, or earthly snap
Jove (so she song) was chaiu/d into a ram,
From whence toe horns of Libyan Amnion
Bacchus a goat, Apollo was a crow,
Phoebe a cat, the wife of Jove a cow,
Whose hue was whiter than the falling sno'
Mercury to a nasty Ibis tnrn'd,
The change obscene, afraid of Typbon moi
While Venus from a fish protection craves.
And once more plunges in her native wave
' She song, and to her harp her voice ap
Then us again to match her they defied.
But our poor song, perhaps, for you to hea
Nor leisure serves, nor is it worth your eaj
* That causeless doubt remove, O Muse, re
The goddess cried, ' your ever-grateful ve
JfefftS. OYID'S METAMORPHOSE* £1
Beneath a cbequer'd shade she takes her seat,
And bids the sister her whole song repeat.
The sister thus : * Calliope we chose
For the performance.' The sweet virgin rose ;
With ivy crown'd she tunes her golden strings,
And to her harp this composition lings.
THK SONG OF THE MUSES.
' First Ceres taught the labouring hind to plough
The pregnant earth, and quickening seed to sow.
She first for nan did wholesome food provide,
And with just laws the wicked world supplied :
All good from her deriv'd, to her belong
The grateful tributes of the Muse's song ;
Her more than worthy- of our verse we deem,
Oh ! were our verse more worthy of the theme ! •
* Jove on the giant fair Trinacria hurl'd,
And with one bolt reveng'd his starry world.
Beneath her burning bills Typhous lies,
And, struggling always, strives in vain to rise.
Down does Pelorus his right hand suppress
Toward Latium, on the left Pachyne weighs:
His legs are under Lilybaenm spread,
And /Etna presses hard his horrid head ;
On his broad back be there extended lies,
And vomits clouds of ashes to the skies.
Oft labouring with his load at last he tires,
And spews out in revenge a flood of fires ;
Mountains he struggles to o'erwhelm, and towns,
Earth's inmost bowels quake, and nature groans :
His terrors reach the direful king of hell ;
He fears his throes will to the day reveal
The realms of night, and fright his trembling ghosts,
* This to prevent, he quits the Stygian coasts,
VOL. II. c
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j*d:S
22 ovid's metamorphoses. Book 5.
In his black car, by sooty horses drawn,
Fair Sicily he seeks, and dreads the dawn.
Around her plains he casts his eager eyes,
And every mountain to the bottom tries",
Bnt when, in all the careful search, he saw
No cau«e of fear, no ill-suspected flaw ;
Secure from harm, and wondering on at will,
Venus beheld him from her flowery hill ;
When straight the dame her little Cupid press'd
With secret rapture to her snowy breast,
And in these words the fluttering boy address*
< " O thou, my arms, my glory, and my pow'r,
My son, whom men and deathless gods adore ;
Bend thy sure bow, whose arrows never miss'd,
No longer let hell's king thy sway resist ;
Take him, while straggling from liis dark abodes,
He coasts the kingdoms of superior gods.
If sovereign Jove, if gods who rule the waves,
And Neptune, who rules them, have been thy slaves
Shall hell be free ? The tyrant strike, my son ;
Enlarge thy mother's empire, and thy own.
Let not our heaven be made the mock of hell,
But Pinto to confess thy power compel.
Our rule is slighted in our native skies,
See Pallas, see Diana too, defies
Thy darts, which Ceres' daughter would despise,
She too our empire treats with ankward scorn,
Such insolence no longer's to be borne ;
Revenge our slighted reign, and with thy dart
Transfix the virgin's to the uncle's heart."
' She said ; and from his quiver straight he d
A dart that surely would the business do.
She guides his band, she makes her touch the te
And of a thousand arrows chose the best :
Bo6k 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. f$
No feather better pois'd, a sharper head
None had, and sooner none, and surer sped ;
He bends his bow/ he draws it to bis ear,
Through Pluto's heart it drives, and fixes there.'
THE RAPE OF PROSERPINE.
Near JBnna's walls a spacious lake is spread,
Fam'd for the sweetly-singing swans it bred;
Pergusa is its name : and never more
Were heard, or sweeter, onCayster's shore.
Woods crown the hike; and Phoebus ne'er invades
The tufted fences, or offends the shades :
Fresh fragrant breezes fan the verdant bow*rs,
And the moist ground smiles with enamel'd flow*nr.
The cheerful birds their airy carols sing,
And the whole year is one eternal spring..
Here, while young Proserpine, among the maid»,
Diverts herself in these delicious shades ;
While like a child with busy speed and care
She gathers lilies here, and violets there ;
While first to till her little lap she strives,
Hell's grisly monarch at the shade arrives ;
Sees her thus sporting on the flowery green,
And loves the bloomiug maid as soon as seen.
His urgent flame impatient of delay,
Swift as his thought he seiz'd the beauteous prey,
And bore her in his sooty car away.
The frighted goddess to her mother cries,
But all in vain, for now far off she flies ;
Far she behind her leaves her virgin train, .
To them too cries, and cries to them in vain ;
And while with passion she repeats her call,
The violets from her lap, and lilies, fall :
t4 ovid's MBTAMcmpHosn. ifeak&
She misses 'em, poor heart I and makes new bmso
Her lilies, ah ! are lost, ber violets gone.
O'er hills, the ravisher, and valleys speeds,
By name encouraging his foamy steeds ;
He rattles o'er their necks the rnstiy reins,
And ruffles with the stroke their shaggy manes.
O'er lakes he whirls his flying wheels, and come:
To the Palici breathing salphnrons tomes.
And tliencc to where tlie Bacchiads of renown
Between unequal havens built their town ;
Where Arethusa, round the* iroprison'd sea,
Extends her crooked coast to Cyane;
The nymph who gave the neighbouring lake a nan
Of all Sicilian nymphs the first in fame.
She from the waves advane'd ber beanteons be*
The goddess knew, and thus to Pinto said:
' Further thou shalt not with the virgin run ;
Ceres unwilling, canst thou be her sou ?
The maid should he by sweet persuasion won.
Force suits not with the softness of the fair,
For if great things with small I may compare,
Me Anapis once lov'd ; a milder course
He took, and won me by his words, not force.'
Then, stretching out her arms, she stop'd his wi
Rut he, impatient of the shortest stay,
Throws to his dreadfol steeds the slackened ren
And strikes bis iron sceptre through the main ;
The depths profound through yielding waves
cleaves,
And to hell's centre a free passage leaves ;
Down sinks his chariot, and his realms of night
The god soon reaches with a rapid flight.
JRotfc 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. *5
■k
t
CYANE DISSOLVES TO A FOUNTAIN.
Bat still does Cyane the rape bemoan,
And with the goddess* wrongs laments her own ;
For the stoPn maid, and for her injur'd spring,
Time to her trouble no relief can bring.
In her sad heart a heavy load she bears,
Till the chimb sorrow turns her all to tears.
Her mingling waters with that fountain pass*
Of which she late immortal goddess was ;
Her varied members to a fluid melt,
A pliant softness in her bones is felt;
Her wavy locks first drop away m dew,
And liquid next her slender fingers grew.
The body's change soon seizes its extreme,
Her legs dissolve, and feet flow off in stream.
Her ansa, her back, her shoulders, and her side,
Her swelling breasts in little currents glide;
A silver liquor only now remains
Within the channel of her purple veins ;
Nothing to fill love's grasp, her husband chaste
Bathes in that bosom he before embrae'd. J.
A BOY TRANSFORMED TO AN EFT.
Thus while, through all the earth aad all the main,
Her daughter mournful Ceres sought in vain ;
Aurora, when with dewy looks she rose,
Nor. burnished Vesper found her in repose.
At AStna's flaming month two pitchy pines
To light her in her search at length she tines.
Restless, with these through frosty night she goes,
Nor fears the catting winds, nor heeds the saw w*;
And when the morning-star the day renews,
From east to west her absent child pursues.
\
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26 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 5*
Thirsty at last by long fatigue she grows,
But meet* uo spring, no rir'let near her flows.
Then looking round, a lowly cottage spies,
Smoking among the trees, and thither hies.
The goddess knocking at the little door,
'Twas open'd by a woman old and poor,
Who, when she begg'd for water, gave her ale
Brevrtl long, but well preaerv'd from being stale.
The goddess drank ; a chuffy lad was by, j
Who saw the liquor with a grutching eye, !
Aud grinning cries, ' she's greedy more than dry.' -
Ceres, offended at his foul grimace,
Flung what she had not drunk into his face.
The sprinklings speckle where they hit the skin,
And a long tail does from his body spin ;
His arms are tura'd to legs, and lest his siae
Should make him mischievous, and he might rise
Against mankind, diminutive his frame
Less than a lizard, but in shape the same.
Amaz'd the dame the wondrous sight beheld,
And weeps, and fain would touch her quondam chil<
Yet her approach the' affrighted vermin shuns,
And fast iuto the greatest crevice runs.
A name they gave him, which the spots expressVl
That rose like stars ', and varied all bis breast
Wliat lands, what seas the goddess wandertlo'e
Were long to tell, for there remain'd no more.
Searching all round, her fruitless toil she mourns,
And with regret to Sicily returns.
At length where Cyane now flows, she came,
Who could have told her, were she still the sane
As when she saw her daughter sink to hell,
But what she knows she wants a tongue to tell.
* Stellio.
Book 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 27
Yet tiiis plain signal manifestly gave,
The virgin's girdle floating on a wave,
As late she drop'd it from her slender waist,
When with her uncle through the deep she pass'd.
Ceres the token by her grief confessed,
And tore her golden hair and beat her breast
She knows not on what land Iter curse should fall ;
Bnt as ingrate, alike upbraids them all,
Unworthy of her gifts ; Trinacria most,
Where the last steps she found of what she lost.
The plough for this tlie vengeful goddess broke,
And with one death the ox and owner struck.
In vain the fallow fields the peasant tills,
The seed, corrupted ere 'tis sown, she kills.
The fruitful soil that once such harvests bore,
Now mocks the farmer's care, and teems no more :
And the rich grain which fills the furrowM glade,
Rots in the seed, or shrivels in the blade,
Or too much sun burns up, or too much rain
Drowns, or black blights destroy the blasted plain ;
Or greedy birds the new-sown seed devour,
Or darnel, thistles, and a crop impure
Of knotted grass along the acres stand,
And spread their thriving roots through all the land.
Then from the waves soft Arethusa rears
Her head, and back she flings her dropping hairs.
' O mother of the maid, whom thou so far
Hast sought, of wiiom thou canst no tidings hear ;
O thou/ she cried, ' who art to life a friend,
Cease here thy search, and let thy labour end.
Thy faithful Sicily's a guiltless clime,
And should not suffer for another's crime ;
She neither knew, nor could prevent the deed.
Nor think that for my country thus I plead ;
£8 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book &
My country's Pisa, I'm an alien here,
Yet these abodes to Elis I prefer,
No clime to me so sweet, no place so dear.
These springs I, Arethnsa, now possess,
And this my seat, O gracious goddepl bless :
This island why I love, and why I crosa'd
Such spacious seas to reach Ortygia's coast,
To yon I shaU impart, when, void of care,
Yonr hearts at ease, and you're more fit to hear;
When on your brow no pressing sorrow sits,
For gay content alone such tales admits.
When through eartlTs caverns I awhile have roU'd
My waves, I rise, and here again behold
The long-lost stars; and as I late did glide
Near Styx, Proserpina there I espied.
Fear still with grief might in her face be seen ;
She still her rape laments; yet made a queen,
Beneath those gloomy shades her sceptre sways,
And ev*n the' infernal king her will obeys.'
This heard, the goddess tike a statue stood,
Stupid with grief; and in that musing mood
Continued long ; new cares awhile suppressM
The reigning powers of her immortal breast.
At last to Jove, her daughter's sire, she flies,
And with her chariot cuts the crystal skies ;
She comes in clouds, and with dbhevel'd hair,
Standing before bis throne, prefers her pray'r.
' Ring of the gods ! defend my blood and thine,
And use it not the worse for being mine.
If I no more am gracious in thy sight,
Be just, O Jove ! and do thy daughter right.
In vain I sought her the wide world around,
And when I most despahfd to find her, found.
>
&fk 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 29
But how can I the fatal finding boast,
By which I know she is for ever lost ?
Without her lather's aid, what other pow'r
Can to my arms the ravwh'd maid restore?
Let him restore her, I'll the crime forgive;
My child, though ravish'd, I'd with joy receive.
Pity your daughter with a thief should wed,
Though mine, you think, deserves no better bed.'
Jove thus replies : * It equally belongs
To both, to guard our common pledge from wrongs.
But if to things we proper names apply.
This hardly can bo call'd an injury.
The theft is love, nor need we blush to own
The thiet^ if I can judge, to be our son.
Hud yon of his desert no other proof,
To be Jove's brother is methinks enough*
Nor was my throne by worth superior got.
Hcav*n fell to me, as bell to bun, by lot;
If yon are still resolv'd her loss to mourn,
And nothing less will serve than her return ;
Upon these terms she. may again be yours,
(The' irrevocable terms of fate, not ours)
Of Stygian food if she did never taste,
Hell's bounds may then, and only then, be pass'd.*
THE TRANSFORMATION OP ASCALAPHUS INTO
AN OWL.
The goddess now, resolving to succeed,
Down to the gloomy shades descends with speed
Rut adverse fate had otherwise decreed.
For long before, her giddy thoughtless child
Had broke her fast, and all her projects spoil'd.
As in the garden's shady walk she stray'd,
A fair pomegranate charm'd the simple maid,
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50 OVID'S MET AMORPHOUS. Bdok 5.
Hong in ber way, and, tempting her to taste,
She pluck'd the fruit, and took a short repast.
Seren times, a seed at once, she eat the food ;
The fact Ascalaphus had only riew'd ;
Whom Acheron begot in Stygian shades
On Orphne*, fam'd among A vernal maids;
He saw what pass'd, and, by discovering all,
Detain'd the ravish'd nymph in crnel thrall.
Bnt now a queen, she with resentment heard,
And chang'd the vile informer to a bird.
In Phlegeton's black stream her hand she dips,
Sprinkles his head, and wets his babbling lips.
Soon on bis face, bedrop*d with magic dew,
A change appear'd, and gaudy feathers grew ;
A crooked beak the place of nose supplies,
Rounded his head, and larger are Ms eyes;
His arms and body waste, but are supplied
With yellow pinions flagging on each side ;
His nails grew crooked, and are turn'd to claws,
And lazily along bis heavy wings he draws.
IU-omen'd in his form, the' unlucky fowl,
Abhor'd by men, and call'd a screeching owl.
THE DAUGHTERS OF ACHELOUS TRANSFORMS!
TO SIRENS.
Justly this punishment was due to him,
And less had been too little for his crime ;
But, O ye nymphs that from the flood descend!
What fault of yours the gods could so offend,
With wings and claws your beauteous forms to spo
Yet save your maiden face and winning smile ?
Were you not with her in Pergusa's bowYs,
When Proserpine went forth to gather flow'rs?
B*0k 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 31
Since Pinto in bis car the goddess caught.
Hare yon not for her in each climate sought ?
And when on land you long had search'd in vain,
Yon wish'd for wings to cross the pathless main ;
That earth and sea might witness to your care;
The gods were easy, and returned your pray*r ;
With golden wing o'er foamy waves you fled,
And to the sun your plumy glories spread.
But, lest the soft enchantment of your songs,
And the sweet music of your flattering tongues,
Should quite be lost (as courteous fates ordain)'
Your voice and virgin beauty still remain.
Jove some amends for Ceres lost to make,
Yet willing Pluto should the joy partake,
Gives them of Proserpine an equal share,
Who, claim'd by both, with both divides the year.
The goddess now in either empire sways,
Six moons in hell, and six with Ceres stays :
Her peevish temper's chang'd ; that sullen mind,
Which made ev'n hell uneasy, now is kind ;
Her voice refines, her mien more sweet appears,
Her forehead free from frowns, her eyes from tears :
As when, with golden light, the conquering day
Throngh dusky exhalations clears a way.
Ceres her daughter's rape no longer mourn'd,
But back to Arethusa's spring return'd ;
And, sitting on the margin, bid her tell
From whence she came, and why a sacred well,
THE STORY OF ARBTHUSA.
Still were the purling waters, and the maid
From the smooth surface rais'd her beauteous head,
Wipes off the drops that from her tresses ran,
And thus to tell Alpheus' love began.
32 OVID'S METAMORFHOflBft. Bmk&,
1 In Elis first I breath'd tbe living air,
The chase was ail my pleasure, all my care.
None lov'd like me tbe forest to explore,
To pitch the toils, and drive the bristled boar*
Of fair, though masculine, I bad the name,
Bat gladly would to that have quitted claim ;
It less my pride than indignation rais'd,
To hear the beauty I neglected, prais'd ;
Such compliments I loath'd, such charms as these
I scorn'd, and thought it infamy to please.
4 Once, I remember, in the summer's heat,
Tir'd with the chase, I sought a cool retreat;
And, walking on, a silent current found,
Which gently glided o'er the gravelly ground.
The crystal water was so smooth, so clear,
My eye distinguisb'd every pebble there :
So soft its motion that I scarce perceiv'd
The running stream, or what I saw believ'd.
The hoary willow and the poplar, made
Along the shelving bank a grateful shade.
In the cool rivulet my feet I dip'd,
Then waded to the knee, and tlien I strip'd ;
My robe I careless on an osier threw,
That near the place commodiously grew ;
Nor long upon the border naked stood,
But plung'd with speed into the silver flood.
My arms a thousand ways I mov'd, and tried
To quicken, if I could, the lazy tide ;
Where, while I play'd my swimming gambols o'er,
I heard a murmuring voice, and frighted sprang to
" Oh! whither, Arethusa, dost thou fly," [shore.
From the brook's bottom did Alpheus cry ;
Again I beard him, in a hollow tone,
" Oh ! whither Arethusa, dost thou run?"
Book 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 3S
Naked I flew, nor could I stay to hide
My limbs, my robe was on the other side;
Alpheus folloVd fast, the' inflaming sight
Qnkken'd bis speed, and made his labour light ;
He sees me ready for his eager arms,
And with a greedy glance devours my charms.
As trembling doves from pressing danger fly,
When the fierce hawk comes sousing from the sky;
And as fierce hawks the trembling doves pursue,
From him I fled, and after me he flew.
First by Orcbomenus I took my flight,
And soon had Psophis and Cyllene in sight ;
Behind me then high Msenalus I lost,
And craggy Erimanthus scaTd with frost ;
Elis was next ; thus far the ground I trod
With nimble feet before the distance! God.
But here I lag*d, unable to sustain
The labour longer, and my flight maintain ;
While he, more strong, more patient of the toil,
And nYd with hopes of beauty's speedy spoil,
Gain'd my lost ground, and by redoubled pace
Now left between us but a narrow space.
Unwearied I till now o'er hills and plains,
O'er rocks and rivers ran, and felt no pains :
The sun behind me, and the god, I kept ;
But when I fastest should have run, I step'd.
Before my feet his shadow now appeared ;
As what I saw, or rather what I fear'd.
Yet there I could not be deceived by fear,
Who felt his breath pant on my braided hair,
And heard his sounding tread, and knew him
• be near.
Tir'd and despairing, u O celestial maid !
I'm caught/* I cried, " without tby heavenly aid.
S4 OVID1! METAMORPHOSE*. BmkS.
Help me, Diana, help a nymph forlorn,
Devoted to the wood*, who long has worn
Thy livery, and long thy qniver borne."
The goddess heard ; my pious pray'r prevajl'd;
In muffling clouds my virgin head was veil'd.
The amorous god, deluded of his hopes,
Searches the gloom^and through the darkness gropes;
Twice, where Diana did her servant bide
He came; and twice, " O Aretbusa!" cried.
How shaken was my soul, bow sunk my heart !
The terror seis'd on every trembling part.
Thus when the wolf about the mountain prowls
For prey, the lambkin hears his horrid howls :
The timorous hare, the pack approaching nigh,
Thus hearkens to the hounds, and trembles at the
cry;
Nor dares she stir for fear her scented breath
Direct the dogs, and guide the threaten'd death.
Alphens in the cloud no traces found
To mark my way, yet stays to guard the ground.
The god so near, a chilly sweat possessed
My fainting limbs, at every pore expressed ;
My strength distill'd in drops, my liair in dew,
My form was chang'd, and all my substance new.
Each motion was a stream, and my whole frame .
Turn'd to a fount, which still preserves my name.
Resolv'd I should not his embrace escape,
Again the god resumes his fluid shape ;
To mix his streams with mine he fondly tries,
But still Diana his attempt denies.
.She cleaves the ground ; through caverns dark I ran
A different current, while he keeps his own.
To dear Ortygia she conducts my way,
And here I first review the welcome day/
r
I BMX OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 35
f Here Arethnsa stop'd ; then Ceres takes
Her golden car, and yokes her fiery snakes ;
With a just rein along mid-heaven she flies
O'er earth and seas, and cuts the yielding skies.
Ae halts at Athens, dropping like a star,
And to Triptolemns resigns her car.
Parent of seed, she gave him fruitful grain,
And bad him teach to till and plough the plain ;
Tbcseed to sow, as well in fallow fields,
As where the soil manur'd a richer harvest yields.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF LYNCUS.
The youth o'er Europe and o'er Asia drives,
Till at the court of Lyncus he arrives.
The tyrant Scythia's barbarous empire sway'd ;
And when he saw Triptolemus, he said,
' How cam'st thou, stranger, to our court, and why?
Thy country, and thy name ? The youth did thus
reply:
' TViptolemus my name ; my country's known
O'er all the world, Minerva's favourite town,
Athens, the first of cities in renown.
By land I neither walk'd, nor saiPd by sea,
But hither through the ether made my way.
By me, the goddess who the fields befriends,
These gifts, the greatest of all blessings, sends.
The grain she gives if in your soil you sow,
Tlience wholesome food in golden crops shall grow.'
Soon as the secret to the king was known, 1
He grudg'd the glory of the service done, I
And wickedly resolv'd to make it all his own. }
To bide his purpose, he invites his guest,
The friend of Ceres, to a royal feast;
J
56 OUlrt METAMOftPBOflftS. B—k 5.
And when sweet sleep Ins heavy eyes bad seii'd,
The tyrant with his steel attempts his breast
Him straight a lynx's shape the goddess gives.
And home the youth her sacred dragons drives.
THE PIERIDE8 T RAH 8 FORMED TO MAGPIES.
The chosen mase here ends her sacred lays ; }
The nymphs unanimous decree the bays, >
And give the Heliconian goddesses the praise. )
Then far from vain that we should thus prevail,
Bat much provok'd to hear the vanquished rail,
Calliope resumes : * Too long we've borne
Your daring taunts, and your affronting scorn ;
Your challenge justly merited a curse,
And this unmanner'd railing makes it worse.
Since you refuse us calmly to enjoy
Our patience, next our passions we'll employ;
The dictates of a mind enrag'd pursue,
And what our just resentment bids us, do.'
The railers laugh, our threats and wrath despise,
And clap their hands, and make a scolding noise;
But, in the fact there seiz'd, beneath their nails
Feathers they fee), and on their faces scales;
Their horny beaks at once each other scare, }
Their arms are plum'd, and on their backs they '
bear (
Py'd wings, and flutter in the fleeting air. )
Chatt'ring, the scandal of the woods they fly,
And there continue still their clamYous cry :
The same their eloquence, as maids or birds,
Now only noise, and nothing then but words.
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK VL
TRANSLATED BY CROXALL.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF ARACHNE INTO A
SPIDER.
Pallas, attending to the M nse's son*,
Approv'd the just resentment of their wrong,
And thus reflects : * While tamely I commend
Those who their injured deities defend.
My own divinity affronted stands,
And calls alond for justice at my hands ;
Then takes the hint, asham'd to lag behind,
And on Aracbne bends her vengeful mind ;
One at the loom so excellently skilPd,
That to the goddess she refus'd to yield.
Low was her birth, and small her native town,
She from her art alone obtained renown.
Idmo, her father, made it his employ,
To give the spongy fleece a purple dye :
Of vulgar strain her mother, lately dead,
With her own rank had bee* content to wed;
Yet she their daughter, though her time was spent
In a small hamlet, and of mean descent,
Through the great towns- of Lydia gain'd a name,
And filTd the neighbouring countries with her fame.
Oft to admire the ntceness of her skill,
The nymphs would quit their fountain, shade, or UU ;
VOL. II. o
A
38 ovid'i metamorphosis. Btok 6.
Thither from green Tymolos they repair,
And leave the vineyards, their peculiar care j
Thither from fam'd Pactolus' golden stream,
Drawn by her art, tlie curious Naiads came.
Nor would the work, when finish'*!, please so much,
As while she wrought to view each graceful touch ;
Whether the shapeless wool in balls she wound,
Or with quick motion turn'd the spindle round,
Or with her pencil drew the neat design,
Pallas, her mistress, shone in every line.
This the proud maid with scornful air denies,
And ev'n the goddess at ber work defies ;
Disowns her heavenly mistress every hour,
Nor asks her aid, nor deprecates her pow'r.
' Let us,1 she cries, ' but to a trial come,
And if sue conquers, let ber fix my doom.'
The goddess then a beldame's form put on,
'With silver hairs her boary temples shone ;
Propyl by a staff she hobbles in ber walk,
And tottering thus begins her old wives' talk.
' Young maid attend, nor stubbornly despise
The admonitions of the old and wise ;
For age, though scorn'd, a ripe experience bears,
That golden fruit, unknown to blooming years ;
Still may remotest fame your labours crown,
And mortals your superior genius own ;
But to the goddess yield, and humbly meek
A pardon for your bold presumption seek ;
The goddess will forgive/ At this the maid,
With passion fiVd, her gliding shuttle stay'd ;
And darting vengeance with an angry look,
To Pallas in disguise thus fiercely spoke : —
' Thou doting thing, whose idle babbling tongue
But too well shows the plague of living long ;
*% OVID'S mxtam ompBotn, 59
Hence, and reprove, with tins- your sage advice, *
Yew gUdv daughter or yoor aukward niece;
sinew, I onipsia yoor counsel, and am stitt '
A wosnan, ever wedded to my will :
And hf yew skilful goddess better knows, •
Let War accept tee trial I propose.'
1 She do**/ hwpatient Fellas straight repBe*, *
And, cfefaY d witk heavenly light, sprang from her
Tfce uyauuhs and virgins of the plain adore
TWaawfisl goddess, end confess her poWr;
TO* BMsdalene stood enappelPd; yetshowM
A traaaient blush, that for a ■anient glow*d,
Then dlsappeer'd;.as purple streaks adorn
The epensng beauties of the rosy morn,
Thl Phsspsnv iwing prevalently bright,
Alhrye the tincture with his sUver light
Yet she persists, and, obstinately great,
In hewet/ef eonqeest berries on her fate.
Taespddass now the challenge waves no more,
Nor* kindly good, advises as before.
Straight to their posts appointed both repair,
And fix their threaded looms with equal care :
Around tfee solid beam the web is tied.
While hollow canes the parting warp divide;
Through which with nimble flight the shuttles)
And tor the woof prepare a ready way ; [play, f
The woof and warp unite press'd by the toothy f
•lay. >
TTiusboth^tbeuiiianUesbntton'dtotbeirbreaiti,
Their skilful fingers ply with willing haste,
And work with pleasure, while they cheer the eye*
With glowing purple of the Tynan dye j
• •■'.-..
40 OVID'S M CTAMOAPHOSB9. Botk 6.
Or, justly intermixing shades with light,
Their colourings insensibly unite.
As when a shower transpierc'd with sunny rays
Its mighty arch along the heaven displays ;
From whence a thousand different colours rise,
Whose fine transition cheats the clearest eyes ;
So like the intermingled shading seems,
And only differs in the hut extremes.
Then threads of gold both artfully dispose,
And as each part in just proportion rose,
Some antique fiible in their work disclose.
Pallas in figures wrought the heavenly pow'rs,
And Mare's hill among the* Athenian tow'rs.
On lofty thrones twice six celestials sate,
Jove in the midst, and held their warm debate :
The subject weighty and well known to fame,
' From whom the city should receive its name.'
Each god by proper features was expressed,
Jove with majestic mien excelled the rest
His three-fork'd mace the dewy sea-god shook,
And, looking sternly, smote the ragged rock ;
When from the stone leap'd forth a sprightly steed,
And Neptune claims the city for the deed.
Herself she blazons with a glittering spear, }
And crested helm that veil'd her braided hair, f
With shield and scaly breast-plate, implements C
of war. /
Struck with her pointed lance, the teeming earth
Seem'd to produce a new surprising birth ;
When, from the glebe, the pledge of con quest sprang,
A tree pale-green with fairest olives hung.
And then, to let her giddy rival learn
What just rewards such boldness was to earn,
Bssird. cm'* metamorphoses. 41
Four trials a.: «ri c.twzt had their part,
Design'd in amiatare. and toach'd with art.
Ha*mas in <■**. mrt iUiadope of Thrace,
Transform d t* smanraiDi, fili'd the foremost place ;
Who clairo'd lae titles or" the gods above,
And vainly w'i the epirhet* of Jove.
Another si**** where rhe Pigmacan dame,
Profaning Jemr* venerable name,
Titrn'd to aa airy crane, descends from far,
And with her PUany .subject wages war.
Io a third aw. the raqe of heaven's great queen,
Display 'd oa arnnri Antigone, was seen ;
Who with premmyniotts boldness dar*d to vie,
For beauty, with, dm empress of tlie sky.
Ah ! what avaib bet ancient princely race,
Her sire a king, and Troy her native place ?
Now, to a noisy stork transform'd, she flies,
And with her whiten'd pinions cleaves the skies.
And in the last remaining part was drawn
Poor Cinyras, that seem'd to weep in stone ;
Clasping the temple steps, be sadly monrn'd
His lovely daughters, now to marble tnrn'd.
With her own tree, the finish'd piece is crown'd,
And wreaths of peaceful olive all the work surround.
Aracbne drew the fam'd intrigues of Jove,
ChangVJ to a bull to gratify his love ;
How through the briny tide, all foaming boar,
Lovely Europa on bis back he bore.
Tlie sea seem'd waving, and the trembling maid
Shrunk up her tender feet, as if afraid;
And looking back on the forsaken strand,
To her companions wafts her distant hand.
Next she dcsijin'd Astoria's fabled rape,
When Jove a^snm'd a soaring eagle's shape :
*.
42 OVID** METAMORPHOSES. Bo*k 6.
And showed how Leda lay supinely press'd.
Whilst the soft snowy swan sat hovering o'er her
How in a satyr's form the god beguil'd, [breast.
When fair Antiope with twins he fill'd.
Then, like Amphitryon, bat a real Jove,
In (air Alcmena's arms he cool'd lus love.
In fluid gold to Danae's heart he came,
iEgina felt hiru in a lambent flame.
He took Mnemosyne in shepherd's make,
And for Deois was a speckled snake.
, She made thee, Neptune, like a wanton steer
Pacing the meads for love of Arne dear ;
Next like a stream, thy burning flame to slake,
And like a ram for fair Bisaltis' sake.
Then Ceres in a steed your vigour. tried,
Nor could the mare the yellow goddess hide.
Next, to a fowl transforni'd, you won by force
The snake-hair'd mother of the winged horse ;
And in a dolphin's fishy form, subdued
Melantho sweet beneath the oozy flood.
All these the maid with lively features drew,
And open'd proper landscapes to the view.
There Phoebus, roving like a country swain,
Attunes his jolly pipe along the plain ;
For lovely Isse's sake, in shepherd's weeds,
O'er pastures green his bleating flock he feeds.
Tlier^e Bacchus, imag'd like the clustering grape,
Melting bedrops Erigone's fair lap ;
Aqd there old Saturn, stung with youthful heat,
Form'd like a stallion, rushes to the feat.
Fresh flowers which twists of ivy intertwine,
Mingling a running foliage, close the next design*
This the bright goddess, passionately inov'd,
With envy saw, yet inwardly approv'd.
Asa* e» onn's mmutoK»Hotn« 45
The scene of heavenly guilt with baste abe tore,
Nor laager the affront with patience bore;
A boxen shuttle in her hand she took,
Ann snore than once Arachne's forehead struck*
The* unhappy maid, impatient of the wrong »
Down from a beam bar injured person hang $
When PeHes, pitying her wretched state,
At once prevented, and pronounced her late;
'Live; bnt depend, vile wretch,' the goddess cried,,
' DooaVd in suspense lor ever to be tied ;
That aO-yoor race, to utmost date of time,
May fed the vengeance, and detest Oh crane.'
Then, going on* she sprinkled bar with j*jfce,
Which leaves of baneful sjcoaiteyprodoee.
Touched with the poisonous drag, her faring hair
Fell to the groand, and left bar temples bare;
Her nsoal features vanisn'dfrom their pstto,
<Ier body lessen'd all, but most her Ace*
Her slender fingers hanging on each side
With manyjoints, the aae of tegs supplied^
A spider's bag the rest, from which she gives
A thread, and still by constant weaving lives.
THE STORY OF NIOAE.
Swift through the Phrygian towns the rumour flies,
And the strange news each female tongue employs t
Niobd, who before she married knew
The famous nymph, now found the story true ;
Yet, unrechuui'd by poor Arachne*s fate,.
Vainly above the gods assum'd a state.
Her husband's fane, their family's descent,
Their power, and rich donrntion's wide extent*
Might well have justified a decent pride ;
But not on these alone the dame relied.
44 OVID'S MBTAMORPHOtBS. Book 6\
Her lovely progeny, that far excell'd,
The mother's heart with vain ambition iweli'd :
The happiest mother not unjustly styl'd,
Had no conceited thoughtsher towering fancy fill'd.
For once a prophetess, with zeal inspir'd,
Their slow neglect to warm devotion fir'd ;
Through every street of Thebes who ran possess'd,
And thus in accents wild her charge express'd :
' Haste, haste, ye Tbeban matrons, and adore,
With ballow'd rites, Latona's mighty pow'r ;
And to the heavenly twins that from her spring,
With laurel crown'd, your smoking incense bring.'
Straight the great summons every dame obey'd,
And due submission to the goddess paid :
Graceful, with laurel chaplets dress'd, they came,
And offer'd incense in the sacred flame.
Meanwhile surrounded with a courtly guard,
The royal Niobe in state appealed ;
Attirtl in robes embroider'd o'er with gold,
And mad with rage, yet lovely to behold :
Her comely tresses, trembling as she stood,
Down her fine neck with easy motion flow'd ;
Then, darting round a proud disdainful look,
In haughty tone her hasty passion broke,
And thus began : * What madness this, to court
A goddess, founded merely on report ?
Dare ye a poor pretended power invoke,
While yet no altars to my godhead smoke ?
Mine, whose immediate lineage stands confess'd^
From Tantalus, the only mortal guest
Tfiat e'er the gods admitted to their feast.
A sister of the Pleiads gave me birth ;
And Atlas, mightiest mountain upon earth,
B(»k 6. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 45
Who bean the globe of all the stars above.
My grandsire was, and Atlas sprung from Jove.
The Theban towns ray majesty adore,
And neighbouring Phrygia trembles .at my pow'r :
Rais'd by my husband's late, with turrets crown'd,
Our lofty city 6tands seenr'd around.
Within my court, where'er I turn my eyes, -
Unbounded treasures to my prospect rise :
With these my face I modestly may name,
As not unworthy of so high a claim;
Seven are my daughters of a form divine,
With seven fair sons, an indefective line.
Go, fools ! consider this, and ask the cause
From which my pride its strong presumption draws :
Consider this, and then prefer to me
Casus, the Titan's vagrant progeny;
To whom, in travel, the whole spacious -earth
No room afforded for her spurious birth.
Not the least part in earth, in heaven, or seas
Would grant your outlaw'd goddess any ease :
Till pitying hers from his own wandering case,
Delos, the floating island, gave a place.
There site a mother was, of two at most,
Only the seventh part of what I boast
My joys all are beyond suspicion fix'd,
With no pollutions of misfortune mix'd ;
Safe on the basis of my power I stand,
Above the reach of Fortune's fickle hand.
Lessen she may my inexhausted store,
And much destroy, yet still must leave me more.
Suppose it possible that some may die
Of this my numerous lovely progeny ;
Still with Latona I might safely vie :
\
46 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 6.
Who, by her scanty breed scarce fit to name,
But just escapes the childless woman's shame*
Go then, with speed your laarel'd heads uncrown,
And leave the.silly farce you have begun.'
,. The timorous throng their sacred rites forbore,
And from their heads the verdant laurel tore ;
Their* haughty queen they with regret obeyed,
And still in gentle murmurs softly pray*d.
High on the top of Cynthus' shady mount,
With grief the goddess saw the base affront ;
And the abuse revolving in her breast,
The mother her twin-offspring thus addrets'd :
* Lo I, my children, who with comfort knew
Your godlike birth, and thence my glory drew ;
And thence have etaim'd precedency of place }
From all but Juno of the heavenly race, J-
Most now despair, and languish in disgrace. )
My godhead question*d, and all rites divine,
Unless you succour, banish'd from my shrine.
Nay more, the imp of Tantalus has flung
Reflections with her vile paternal tongue ;
Has dar'd prefer her mortal breed to mine,
And call'd me childless; which, just Fate, may she
repine !'
When to urge more the goddess was prepared,
Phoebus in haste replies, * Too much we've heard
And every moment's lost, while vengeance is I
deferU' 3
Diana spoke the same. Then both enshroud
Their heavenly bodies in a sable cloud :
And to the Tbeban towers descending light,
Through the soft yielding air direct their flight.
Without the wall there lies a champaigu ground
With even surface, far extending round,
:l
Book 6. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 47
Beaten and level'd, while it daily feels
The trampling horse, and chariot's grinding wheels.
Part of proud Niobe's young rival breed,
practising there to ride the mamur'd steed,
Their bridles boss'd with gold, were mounted high
On stately furniture of Tyrian dye.
Of these, Ismenos, who by birth had been
The first fair issue of the fruitful queen,
Just as he drew the rein to guide his horse
Around the compass of the circling course,
Sigh'd deeply, and the pangs of smart express'd,
While the shaft stuck, engor'd within bis breast :
And the reins dropping from his dying hand,
He sunk quite down, and tumbled on the sand.
Sipylus next the rattling quiver heard,
And with full speed for his escape prepared ;
As when the pilot from the blackening skies
A gathering storm of wintry rain descries,
His sails nnftirl'd, and crowded all with wind,
He strives to leave the threatening cloud behind :
So fled the youth ! but an unerring dart
Oertook him, quick discharg'd, and sped with art ;
Fix'd in his neck behind it trembling stood,
And at his throat display'd the point besmear'd
with blood. %
Prone as his posture was, he tumbled o'er,
And bath'd his courser's mane with steaming gore.
Next at young Phaedimus they took their aim,
And Tantalus, who bore his grandsire's name :
These, when their other exercise was done,
To try the wrestler's oily sport begun :
And, straining every nerve, their skill express'd
In closest grapple, joining breast to breaM:
,]
48 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 6.
When from the bending bow an arrow sent,
Join'das they were, through both their bodies went :
Both groan'd, and writhing both their limbs with
They fell iogetlier bleeding on the plain ; [pain,
Then both their languid eyeballs faintly roll,
And thus together breathe away their soul.
With grief Alpbenor saw their doleful plight,
And smote Ins breast, and sicken'd at the sight;
Then to their succour ran with eager baste,
And, fondly griev'd, their stiffening limbs embrac'd ;
But in the action rails : a thrilling dart,
By Phoebus guided, pierc'd him to the heart.
This, as they drew it forth, his midriff tore,
Its barbed point the fleshy fragments bore,
And let the soul gush out in streams of purple gore.
But Damasichthon, by a double wound,
Beardless and young, lay gasping on the ground.
Fix'd in his sinewy ham, the steely point
Stuck through his knee, and pierc'd the nervous
And, as he stoop'd to tug the painful dart, [joint :
Another stuck him in a vital part;
Shot through his wezon, by the wing it hung,
The life-blood forc'd it out, and darting upward
Ilioueus, the last, with terror stands, [sprung.
Lifting in prayer his unavailing hands ;
And ignorant from whom his griefs arise,
' Spare me, O all ye heavenly pow'rs !' he cries.
Phoebus was touch'd too late, the sounding bow
Had sent the shaft, and struck the fatal blow ;
Which yet but gently gor'd his tender side",
So by a slight and easy wound he died.
Swift to the mother's ears the rumour came,
And doleful signs the heavy news proclaim ; *
4\ OTIDfr HHMUMVUftMV. 49
With •■gar ml surprise mftWd by tarns,
Insurious rage her haughty stomach bonis:
First the disputes the* effects of heavenly powY,
Then at their daring mmmh wonders morn 3
Eor poor Amphton, with tore grief disUearil,
loping to soothe his cares by endless rest,
Had sheattYd a dagger Sa hk wretched breast.
And she, who tosstt her high olsdumrttl head, )
When through the sti^tote solemn psnnp aha lad >
The throng that from Eaton** attar 6os% )
Assuming state beyond the proudest aneen,
Was now the mioerablest object seen.
Prostrate among the day-col* dead she An,
And kissM ah undhftiiammYd last ftrewelL
Then her path araU advancing to the skies,
' Cruel Latent triumph now,' she cries;
my gnevmg som tn Miser sngusm orencu,
And with my woes your thirsty passion quench;
Feastyo«rbls^nmtfceataprwetimidear,
White the sore pangs of seven suth deaths I bear.
Triumph, too cruel rival, and display
Your conquering standard ; for you've won the day.
Yet Ffl excel; for yet, though seven are slain,
Superior stilt in number I remain.'
Scarce had she spoke ; the bow-string's twanging }
sound f
Was heard, and dealt fresh terrors all around ; f
Which all, but Niobe* alone, confound. j
Ston'd, and obdurate by her load of grief,
Insensible she sits, nor hopes relief.
Before the Amend biers, all weeping sad,
Her daughters stood, in vests of sable clad.
When one, surprls'd, and stung with sudden smart,
In vam attempts to draw the sticking dart:
L • 1 a
50 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 6.
But to grim death her blooming youth resigns,
And o'er her brother's corps ber dying head re-
clines.
This, to assuage her mother's anguish tries,
And, silenc'd in the pious action, dies ;
Shot by a secret arrow, wing/d with death,
Her faltering lips but only gasp'd for breath.
One on her dying sister breathes her last ;
Vainly in flight another's hopes are plac'd :
This hiding, from her fate a shelter seeks;
That trembling stands, and fills the air with shrieks.
And all in vain ; for now all six had found
Their way to death, each by a different wound.
The last with eager care the mother veil'd,
Behind her spreading mantle c]p»e conceal'd,
And with her body guarded, as a shield.
' Only lor this, this youngest, I implore,
Grant me this one request, I ask no more ;
O grant me this !' she passionately cries : —
But while she speaks, the destin'd virgin dies.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF NIOBE.
Widow'd and childless, lamentable state !
A doleful sight, among the dead she sate ;
Harden'd with woes, a statue of despair,
To every breath of wind unmov'd her hair ;
Her cheek still reddening, but its colour dead,
Faded her eyes, and set within her head,
No more her pliant tongue its motion keeps,
But stands congeal'd within her frozen lips.
Stagnate and dull, within her purple veins,
Its current stop'd, the lifeless blood remains.
Her feet their usual offices refuse,
Her arms and neck their graceful gestures lose
Book 6. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 51
•
Action and life from every part are gone,
And «v'n her entrails turn to solid stone ;
Yet still she weeps, and, wbirl'd by stormy winds,
Borne through the air her native country finds;
There fix'd, she stands upon a bleaky hill,
There yet her marble cheeks eternal tears distil.
THE PEASANTS OF LYCIA TRANSFORMED TO FROGS.
Then all, reclaim'd by this example, show'd
A due regard for each peculiar god:
Both men and women their devoirs express'd,
And great Latona's awful power confess'd.
Then, tracing instances of older time,
To suit the nature of the present crime,
Thus one begins his tale. Where Lycia yields
A golden harvest from its fertile fields.
Some churlish peasants, in the days of yore,
Provok'd the goddess to exert her pow'r.
The thing indeed the meanness of the place
Has made obscure, surprising as it was ;
But I myself once happen'd to behold
The famous lake of which the story's told.
My father then, worn out by length of days,
Nor able to sustain the tedious ways,
Me with a guide had sent the plaius to roam,
And drive his well-fed straggling heifers home.
Here, as we saunter'd through the verdant meads,
We spied a lake o'ergrown with trembling reeds,
Whose wavy tops an opening scene disclose,
From which an antique smoky altar rose.
I, as my superstitious guide had done,
Stop'd short, and bless'd myself, and then went on;
Yet I inquired to whom the altar stood,
Faunus, the Naiads, or some native god?
52 OVID'i METAMORPHOSES. Book 6.
* No silvan deity/ my friend replies,
* Enshrin'd within this hallow'd altar lies.
For this, O youth, to that fam'd goddess stands,
Whom at the* imperial Juno's rough commands,
Of every quarter of the earth bereav'd,
Delos, the floating isle, at length receivM.
Who there, in spite of enemies, brought forth,
Beneath an olive shade, her great twin-birth.
Hence too she fled the furious stepdame's powY,
And in her arms a double godhead bore;
And now the borders of fair Lycia gain'd,
Just when the summer solstice pardfd the land.
With thirst the goddess languishing, no more
Her emptied breast would yield its milky store ;
When from below, the smiling valley show'd
A silver lake that in its bottom flowV) ;
A sort of clowns were reaping, near the bank,
The bending osier, and the bulrush dank;
The cress and water lily, fragrant weed,
Whose juicy stalk the liquid fountains feed.
The goddess came, and kneeling on the brink,
Stoop'd at the fresh repast, prepaid to drink.
Then thus, being hinder^ by the rabble race,
In accents mild expostulates the case :
" Water I only ask, and sure 'tis hard
From nature's common rights to be debarM :
This, as the genial sun and. vital air,
Should flow alike to every creature's share.
Yet still I ask, and as a favour crave,
That which, a public bounty, nature gave.
Nor do I seek my weary limbs to drench ;
Onty with one cool draught my thirst I'd quench.
Now from my throat the usual moisture dries,
And ev'n my voice in broken accents dies :
r
fis«fc& OYID't METAMORPHOSBS. 55
One draught as dear as life I should esteem,
And water, now I thirst, would nectar seem :
Oh! let my little babes your pity move,
And melt your hearts to charitable love;
They (as by chance they did) extend to yon
Their little hands, and my request pursue.*
' Whom would these soft persuasions not subdue,
Though the most rustic arid untanner'd crew?
Yet they the goddess's request refuse,
And with rode words reproachfully abuse :
Nay more, with spiteful feet the villains trod
O'er the soft bottom of the iharsUy flood,
And bhcken'd all the lake with clouds of rising)
mud.
* Her thirst by tadigaatioi was suppress^;
Bent on revenge, the goddess stood confessed.
Her suppliant hands uplifting to the skies,
For a redress, to heaven she now applies. .
And, " May yon Hire," she passionately cried,
" Doom'd in that pool for ever to abide."
' The goddess has her wish ; for now they choose
To plunge, and dive among the waf ry oote ;
Sometimes they show their head above the brim,
And on the glassy surface spread to swim ;
Often upon the bank their station take,
Then spring, and leap into the cooly lake.
Still void of shame, they lead a clamorous life,
And, croaking, still scold on in endless strife;
CompelPd to live beneath the liquid stream,
Where still they quarrel, and attempt to scream.
Now, from their bloated throat, their voice puts on
Imperfect murmurs in a hoarser tone ;
Their noisy jaws, with bawling now grown wide,
An ugly sight extend on either side :
vol*. 11. E
54 OVID'S METAMOftPHOtH. Mr 6.
Their motley back, streak'd with a Hut of green,
Joined to their bead, without a neck is seen ;
And with a belly broad and white, they look
Mere frogi, and still frequent the muddy brook.*
THE FATE OF MARSKAS.
Scarce bad the man this famous story told,
Of vengeance on the Lycians shown of old,
When straight another pictures to their view
The Satyr's fate, whom angry Phcebus slew ;
Who, rais'd with high conce»t,and puiTd with pride,
At his own pipe the skilful god defied.
' Why do you tear me from myself?* he cries.
' Ah cruel ! must my skin be made the prise?
This for a silly pipe ?' he roaring said,
Meanwhile the skin from off his limbs was flay'd.
AH bare and raw, one large continued wound,
With streams of blood his body bath'd the ground.
The bluish veins their trembling pulse disclos'd,
The stringy nerves lay naked and expos'd ;
His guts appeared, distinctly each expressed,
With every shining fibre of his breast.
The Fauns and Silvans, with the Nymphs that rove
Among the Satyrs in the shady grove ;
Olympus, known of old, and every swain
That fed or flock or herd opon the plain,
Bewail*d the loss; and with their tears that flow'd,
A kindly moisture on the earth bestoWd ;
That soon conjoined, and, in a body rang'd,
Sprung from the ground, to Jimpid water cbam/d ;
Which, down through Phrygia's rocks, a mighty
stream,
Comes tumbling to the sea, and Marsya is its nam?
/to* 6. OVID* BIfcTAMOftPHOSBS. o5
THB STORY OF PELOP8.
From these relations straight the people tarn
To present truths, and lost Amphion mourn :
The mother most was blam'd, yet some relate
That Pelops pitied, and bewaiftl her mte,
And strip'd his clothes and laid his shoulder bare,
Ami made the ivory miracle appear.
Tins shonlder from the first was form'd of fleshy
As Irfely at the other and as fresh $
But, when the yootfa was by his father slain,
■The gods restored his mangled limbs again;
Only that place which joins the neck and arm,
The rest untouch'd, was fonnd to suffer harm :
The loss of which an ivory piece sustahfd ;
And thus the youth his limbs and life regahVd.
\
THE STOUT OF TEUOl, FBOCNK, AND PHILOMELA.
To Thebes the neighbouring princes all repair,
And with condolence the misfortune share.
Each bordering state in solemn form address*d*,
And each betimes a friendly grief expressed.
Argos, with Sparta's and Mycenae's towns,
And Calydon, yet free from fierce Diana's frowns :
Corinth, for finest brass well ranTd of old,
Oi-chomenos, for men of courage bold ;
Cleonss lying in the lowly dale,
And rich Messeni with its fertile vale:
Pylos, for Nestor's city after mra'd,
And Titeaen, not as yet from Pittheos nam'd :
And those fair cities, which are hem'd around
Jly double seas within the Isthmian ground ;
And those, which further from the sea-coast stand,
Lods/d in the bosom of the spacious land.
56 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bo*k 6.
Who can believe it P Athens was the last :
Though for politeness fam'd for ages past.
For a straight siege, which then their walls in-
clos'd,
Sach acts of kind humanity oppos'd :
And thick with ships, from foreign nations bound,
Sea-ward their city lay invested ronnd.
These, with anxiliar forces led from far,
Terens of Thrace, brave and inur'd to war,
Had quite defeated ; and obtained a name,
The warrior's dne among the sons of fame.
This with his wealth, and power, and ancient line,
From Mars deriv'd, Pandion's thoughts incline
His daughter Procne with the prince to join.
Nor Hymen, nor the Graces here preside.
Nor Jnno, to befriend the blooming bride ;
But Fiends with funeral brands the process led,
And Furies waited at the genial bed :
And all night long the screeching owl aloof,
With baleful notes sat brooding o'er the roof.
With such ill omens was the match begun,
That made them parents of a hopeful son,
Now Thrace congratulates their seeming joy,
And they in thankful rites their minds employ.
If the fair queen's espousals pleas'd before,
Itys, the new-born prince, now pleases more;
And each bright day, the birth and bridal feast,
Were kept with hallow'd pomp above the rest.
So far true happiness may lie conceal'd,
When by false lights we fancy 'tis reveal'd !
Now since their nuptials, had the golden sun
Five courses round his ample zodiac run ;
When gentle Procne thus her lord address'd,
And spoke the secret wishes of her breast :
Btofc 6. OVID'S M ITAXOftPHOSIS. 5?
* If I,' she said, ' have ever favour found,
Let my petition with success be crown'd :
Let me at Athens my dear sister see;
Or let her come to Thrace, and visit me!
And, lest my father should her absence mourn,
Promise that she shall make a quick return.
With thanks I'd own the obligation due.
Only,' O Tereus! to the gods and yon.'
Now, pUed with oar and sail at Ids command,
The nimble galleys reach'd the* Athenian land,
And anchor'd in the fam'd Pirssan bay,
While Tereus to the palace takes his way;
The king salutes, and, ceremonies past,
Begins the fetal embassy at last ;
Urn* occasion of hit voyage he declares,
And with his own, his wife's request prefers:
Asks leave that only for a little space,
Their lovely sister might embark for Thrace.
Thus while be spoke appear'd the .royal maid,
Bright Philomela, splendidly array'd j
But most attractive in her charming nee,
And comely person, turn'd with every grace :
like those fair nymphs, that are described to rove
Across the glades, and openings of the grove:
Only that these are dress'd for silvan sports,
And less become the finery of courts.
Tereus beheld the virgin and admirVl,
And with the coals of burning lust was fir'd :
Like crackling stubble, or the summer bay,
When forked "ghtnjngt o'er the meadows play.
Such charms in any breast might kindle love,
But him the beats. e£ inbred lewdness move ;
To which, though Thrace is natnolly prone,
Yet bbustiU superior, and bis own,
58 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 6.
Straight her attendants lie designs to boy,
And with large bribes her governess would try:
Herself with ample girls resolves to bend,
And his whole kingdom in the* attempt expend :
Or, snatch'd away by force of arms, to bear,
And justify the rape with opeu war.
The boundless passion boils within his breast,
And his projecting sonl admits no rest
And now, impatient of the least delay,
By pleading Procne's cause he speeds his way :
The eloquence of love his tongue inspires,
And in his wife's he speaks his own desires ;
Hence all his importunities arise,
And tears unmanly trickle from bis eyes.
Ye gods I what thick involving darkness blinds
The stupid faculties of mortal minds !
Tereus the credit of good-nature gains
From these his crimes; so well the villain feigns.
And, unsuspecting of his base designs,
In the request fair Philomela joins ;
Her snowy arms her aged sire embrace,
And clasp his neck with an endearing grace :
Only to see her sister she intreats,
A seeming blessing, which a curse completes.
Tereus surveys her with a luscious eye,
And in his mind forestals the blissful joy :
Her circling arms a scene of lust inspire,
And every kiss foments the raging fire;
Fondly he wishes for the father's place,
To feel, and to return the warm embrace ;
Since not the nearest ties of filial blood
Would damp his flame, and force him to be good.
At length, for both their sakes, the king agrees $
And Philomela! on her bended knees,
IF
B—k6. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 59
Thanks him for what ber fancy calls succtM,
When cruel Fate intends her nothing less.
Now Phoebus, hastening to ambrosial rest,
His fiery steeds drove sloping down the west:
The sceJptnr'd gold with sparkling wines was filTd,
And with rich meats each cheerful table snnTd ;
Plenty and mirth the royal banquet close,
Then all retire to sleep, and sweet repose.
Bat the lewd monarch, though withdrawn apart,
Still feels love's poison rankling in fab heart :
Her nee divine is stamped within bis breast,
Fancy imagines, and improves the rest;
And thus, kept waking by intense desire,
He nourishes his own prevailing fire
Next day dm good old king for Tereus sends,
And to his charge the virgin recommends;
His hand with tears the' indnlgent firthcr pressed,
Then spoke, and thus with tenderness address'd :
' Since the kind instances of pions love *
Do all pretence of obstacle remove :
Since ProcmVs, and her own, with yonr request,
Oerrule the fears of a paternal breast;
With you, dear son, my daughter I intrust,
And by the gods adjure you to be just ;
By truth, and every consaittmineal tie,
To watch, and guard her with a father's eye ;
And, since the least delay will tedious prove,
In keeping from my sight the child I love,
With speed return her, kindly to assuage
The tedious troubles of my hng'ring age;
And you, my Philomel, let it suffice,
To know your sister's banislfd from my eyes ;
If any sense of duty sways your mind,
Let me from ye* the shortest absence find.'
60 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Be«fc 6.
He wept, then kiss'd bis child; and while he speaks.
The tears, fall gently down his aged cheeks ;
Next, as a pledge of fealty, be demands,
And, with a solemn charge, conjoins their bands;
Then to his daughter and his grandson sends,
And by their mouth a blessing recommends;
While, in a voice with dire forebodings broke,
Sobbing and faint, the last farewell was spoke.
Now Philomela, scarce receiv'd on board,
And in the royal gilded bark secured,
Beheld the dashes of the bending oar,
The ruified sea, and the receding shore ;
When straight (his joy impatient of disguise)
' We'vegain'd our point/ the rough Barbarian cries ;
* Now I possess the dear, the blissful hour,
And ev'ry wish subjected to my pow'r.'
Transports of lust his virions thoughts employ,
And he forbears, with pain, the' expected joy ;
His glotmg-eyes incessantly surveyed
The virgin beauties of the lovely maid :
As when the bold rapacious bird of Jove,
With crooked talons stooping from above,
lias snafcb'd and carried to his lofty nest
A captive |iare, with cruel gripes oppress'd ;
Secure, with fix'd and unrelenting eyes
He sits, and views the helpless trembling prize.
Their vessels now had made the* intended land,
And all with joy descend upon the strand ;
When the false tyrant seiz'd the princely maid,
And to a. lodge in distant woods conveyed :
Pale, sinking, and disiress'd with jealous fears,
And asking for her sister all in tears ;
The letcher, for enjoyment fully bent,
No longer now conceal'd his base intent ;
f
JbVtfr 6. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 61
Bat with rode haste the bloomy girl defiower'd,
Tender, defenceless, and with ease o'erpower'd ;
Her piercing accents to her sire complain,
And to her absent sister, bet in lain :
In vain she importunes, with dolefbl cries,
Each inattentive godhead of the skies ;
She pants and trembles, like the bleating prey
From some close-bunted wolf just snateh'd away ;
That still, with fearful horror, looks around,
And on its flank regards the bleeding wound:
Or, as the timorous dove, the danger o'er,
Beholds her shining pbnnes besmear*d with gore ;
And though deliver^ from th* falcon's daw,
Yet shivers, and retains a secret awe.
But when her mind a calm reflection sharM,
And all her scattered spirits were repair'd;
Torn and disorder^ while her tresses hong,
Her livid hands, like one that mountfd* she. wrong)
Then thus, with grief o'erwhebn'd her languid eyes,
' Savage, inhuman, cruel wretch !' she cries,
■+ Whom nor a parentis strict commands could move,
Though charg'd and utter*d with the tears of love,
Nor virgin innocence, nor all that's due
To the strong contract of the nuptial vow :
Virtue, by mis, in wild contusion's laid,
And I compelPd to wrong my sister's bed;
Whilst you, regardless of your marriage oath,
With stains of incest have defil'd us both.
Though I deserv'd some punishment to find,
This was, ye gods ! too cruel and unkind.
Yet, villain, to complete your horrid guilt,
Stab here, and let my tainted blood be spilt.
Oh happy! had it come, before I knew
The curs'd embrace of vile perfidious you;
63 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Botk 6.
Then my pale ghost, pure from incestuous love,
Had wander*d spotless through the* Elysian grove.
But, if the gods above have pow*r to know
And judge those actions that are done below ;
Unless the dreaded thunders of the sky
Like me subdu'd and violated lie,
Still my revenge shall take its proper time,
And suit the baseness of yonr hellish crime.
Myself, abandoned and devoid of shame,
Through the wide world yonr actions will proclaim :
Or though I'm prison'd in this lonely den,
Obscur'd and buried from the sight of men,
My mournful voice the pitying rocks shall move,
And my complainings echo through the grove.
Hear me, O heaven ! and, if a god be there,
Let him regard me, and accept my pray'r.'
Struck with these words, the tyrant's guilty breast
With fear and anger was by turns possess'd ;
Now, with remorse his conscience deeply stung,
He drew the falchion that beside him hung ;
And first her tender arms behind her bound,
Then dragg'd her by the iiair along the ground.
The princess willingly her throat reclin'd,
And view'd the steel with a contented mind ;
Rut soon her tongue the girding piucers strain,
With anguish soon she feels the piercing pain :
' Oh ! father father f she would fain nave spoke,
But the sharp torture her intention broke ;
In vain she tries, for now the blade has cut
Her tongue sheer off, close to the trembling root.
The mangled part still quiver'd on the ground,
Murmuring, with a faint imperfect sound :
And as a serpent writhes his wounded train,
Uneasy, panting, and possess'd with pain ;
s
B—k4. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 63
The piece, while life remaiifd, still trembled fast,
And to its mistress pointed to the last.
Yet, after this so damn'd and black a deed.
Fame (which I scarce can credit) has agreed,
That on her rifled charms, still void of shame,
He frequently indulg'd his lustful flame.
At last he ventures to Ins Procnes sight,
Loaded with guilt, and doy'd with long delight;
There, witnfeign'd grief, and fake dissembled sighs,
Begins a formal narrative of fees :
Her sister's death he artfully declare*,
Then weeps, and raises credit from fast tears.
Her vest, with flowers of geld embrolderM o'er,
With grief dUtress'd, the moarnfnl matron tore,
And a beseeming sort of gloomy sable wore.
With cost an honorary tomb she rnhfaV
And tons the* imaginary ghost appeas'd.
Deluded queen ! the -fete of her yon love
Nor grief, nor pity, bat revenge should move.
Through the twefcQkns had passti the circling
And round the compass of the zodiac run;
What most unhappy Philomela do,
For ever subject to her keeper's view ?
Huge walls of massy stone the lodge surround,
From her own mouth no way of speaking's found.
But all our wants by wit may be supplied,
And art makes up what fortune has denied :
With skill exact a Phrygian web sue strung,
Fix'd to a loom that in her chamber hung,
Where io-wrooght letters, upon white disptay'd,
In purple notes her wretched case betrayed;
The piece, when finuh'd, secretly she gave
Into the charge of one poor menial slave j
64 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 6.
And then, with gestures, made him understand,
It most be safe convey d to Procne* band.
The slave with speed the qneerfs apartment sought,
And rendered up his charge, unknowing what he
brought.
But when the ciphers, figured in each fold,
Her sister's melancholy story told,
(Strange that she could !) with silence she survey 'd
The tragic piece, and without weeping read :
III such tnmultuous haste her passions sprung,
They chok'd her voice, and quite disarm'd her
No room for female tears ; the furies rise, [tongue.
Darting vindictive glances from her eyes;
And, stnng with rage, she bounds from place to
place, i
While stern revenge sits louring in her face.
Now the triennial celebration came,
Observ'd to Bacchus by each Thraciau dame;
When, in the privacies of night retir'd,
They act His rites, with safo^rapture nYd ;
By night the tinkling cymbals ring around,
While the shrill notes from Kfeodope resound ;
By night, the queen disgnis'd forsakes the court,
To mingle in the festival resort ;
Leaves of the curling vine her temples shade,
And with a circling wreath adorn her head ;
Adown her back the stag's rough spoils appear,
Light on her shoulder leans a cornel spear.
Thus, in the fury of the god conceal'd,
Procne her own mad headstrong passion veil'd i
Now, with her gang, to the thick wood she flies,
And with religious yellings fills the skies ;
The fatal lodge, as 'twere by chance, she seeks,
And through the bolted doors an entrance breaks;
">
sd.)
Book 6. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 65
From thence her sister snatching by the hand,
Mask'd like the ranting Bacchanalian band,
Within the limits of the court she drew,
Shading with ivy green her outward hue.
But Philomela, conscious of the place,
Felt new reviving pangs of her disgrace ;
A shivering cold prevail'd in cv'ry part,
And the chill'd blood ran trembling to her heart.
Soon as the queen a fit retirement found,
Stripped of the garlands that her temples crown'd,
She straight nnveiPd her blushing sister's face,
And fondly clasp'd her with a close embrace :
But, in confusion lost, the' unhappy maid,
With shame dejected, hung her drooping head,
As guilty of a crime that stain'd her sister's bed.
That speech, that should her injur'd virtue clear,
And make her spotless innocence appear,
Is now no more ; only her hands and eyes
Appeal in signals to the conscious skies.
In Procne's breast the rising passions boil,
And burst in anger with a road recoil ;
Her sister's ill-tim'd grief with scorn she blames,
Then in these furious words her rage proclaims :
' Tears unavailing but defer our time,
The stabbing sword must expiate the crime ;
Or worse, if wit, on bloody vengeance bent,
A weapon more tormenting can invent.
O sister ! I've prepared my stubborn heart
To act some hellish and unheard-of part;
Either the palace to surround with fire,
And see the villain in the flames expire ;
Or with a knife dig out his cursed eyes,
Or his false tongue with racking engines seize;
Co ovid'8 metamorphoses. B—k 6*
Or cat away the part that injured you,
And through a thousand wounds his guilty soul
pursue.
Tortures euough my passion has design'd,
But the variety distracts my mind.'
Awhile, thus wavering, stood the furious dame,
When ltys fondling to his mother came ;
From him the cruel ratal bint she took,
She view'd him with a stern remorseless look :
' Ah I but too like thy wicked sire !' she said,
Forming the direful purpose in her head.
At tilts a sullen grief her voice suppress'd,
While silent passions struggle in her breast.
Now, at her lap arriv'd, the flattering boy
Salutes his parent with a smiling joy :
About her neck his little arms are thrown,
And he accosts her in a prattling tone.
Then her tempestuous anger was allay'd,
And in its rail career her vengeance stay'd ;
While tender thoughts in spite of passion rise,
And melting tears disarm her threatening eyes.
But when she found the mother's easy heart
Too fondly swerving from the' iutended part,
Her injur'd sister's face again she view'd,
And) as by turns surveying both she stood,
• While this fond boy,* she said, ' can thus express
The moving accents of his fond address,
Why stands my sister of her tongue bereft,
Forlorn aud sad, in speechless silence left?
O Procne, see the fortune of your house ;
Such is your fate, when match'd to such a spouse !
Conjugal duty, if observ'd to him,
Would change from virtue, and become a crime;
.'£§** & . OVID'S MRAMOBPflmif. $7
For all respect to Tereus must debase
The noble blood of great Pan«hWa race.'
Straight at tliese words, with big resentment
fflfd, '
Furious her look, she dew and seitfd her child;
like a tell tigress of the savage kind,
That drags the tender suckling of the bind .
Through India's gloomy groves, where Ganges laves
The shady scene, and rolls his streamy waves.
Now to a close apartment they ware come.
Far offrenYd within the spacious dome;
When. Procni, on revengeful mischief bent,
Home to his heart a piercing poniard sent
Itys, with rueful cries, but all too late,
Holds out his hands, and deprecates his rate ,
Still at his mother's neck he fondly aims,
And strifes to melt her with endearing names ;
Yet still the cruel mother perseveres,
Nor with concern his bitter anguish hears.
This might suffice ; but Philomela too
Across his throat a shining cutis? s drew.
Then both with knives dissect each quWring part,
And carve the butcherM limbs with cruel art ;
Which, whelm'd in boiling cauldrons o'er the fire,
Or tnrnM on spits, in steamy smoke aspire :
Whije the long entries, with their slipp'ry floor,
Ran down in purple streams of clotted gore.
Ask'd by his wife to this inhuman feast,
Terens unknowingly is made a guest :
While she her plot the better to disguise,
Stiles it some unknown mystic sacrifice ;
And such the nature of the ballow'd rite,
The wife her husband only could invite, [sight]
The slaves must all withdraw, and be debar'd the .
T*.
68 OVltfl METAMORPHOSES. Boofc 6.
Tereus, upon a throne of antique state
Loftily rais'd, befbre the banquet sate ;
And, glutton like, luxuriously pleas'd,
With bis own flesh his hungry maw appeas'd.
Nay, such a blindness o'er his senses falls,
That he for Itys to the table calls :
When Procne, now impatient to disclose
The joy that from her fall revenge arose,
Cries out, in transports of a cruel mind,
' Within yourself your Itys you may And.*
Still at this puzzling answer, with surprise
Around the room he sends his curious eyes;
And, as he still inquired and call'd aloud,
Fierce Philomela, all besmear'd with blood,
Her hands with murder stain'd, her spreading hair
Hanging dishevell'd with a glmstly air,
Stepp'd forth, and flung full in the tyrant's face
The head of Itys, goary as it was :
Nor ever long'd so much to use her tongue,
And with a just reproach to vindicate her wrong.
The Thracian monarch from the table flings,
While with his cries the vaulted parlour rings;
His imprecations echo down to hell,
And rouse the snaky Furies from their Stygian cell
One while he labours to disgorge his breast,
And free his stomach from the cursed feast;
Then, weeping o'er his lamentable doom,
He styles himself bis son's sepulchral tomb.
Now, with drawn sabre and impetuous speed,
In close pursuit he drives Pandion's breed ;
Whose nimble feet spring with so swift a force
Across the fields, they seem to wing their course.
And now on real wings themselves they raise,
And steer their airy flight by diff'rent ways ;
49
Around tbe smoky roof the. other. flies;
Wboie Aethers rot the maje* of murder stain.
Where, MM^d amenta- smrnm* ftecomeoA spots
. >
Tereus, through grief; sad hastate ft* reveas/d,
Shores the like fete, and to n bfed isxrmag'd;
Fbttoalimlieadtbncre)m4frio^
Loo^»hkbeio^8jidahaiiiotfdlike*jspeor;
Thiis8jm'd>is»k>akshbsi«BfdiiUDd4^>lA^ ,
And^toolipjfk^tiini^oVteftoshitwoy.
facoamW taeniae tor Ms ddidimifr mJte.
SborteiiU*m*hceV» days,*** ehent/d *w date ;
Doom to tjw<hedps holoo/i warn sorrow spent,
An
' sofckAt in toy*,
JSaeotbeoa next the* Athenian sceptre swa^d,
Whose pole the «Ute srith joint consent eheyVi:
^v^doisJiwkMW'VikthiMYaloiirBooi'd,
His reign *oe sees* of pamcely goodriem sbow'd.
Foor hopeful youths, as many females bright,
Sprang from his loins, and sooth'd him with deught*
Two of these sisters, of a lovelier air,
Exceifd the res t, though ail the rest were fiir.
Proem, to Cephams in wedlock tied,
Btess'd tbe young sylvan with a blooming bride :
For Qrhhyia Boreas sajfer'd pain,
For the coy maid sued long, bat sued in vain;
Terens his peigbbeur,an4 his Ifccacjan <bkod,
Against me match a main objection stood ;
Which made his vows and ail his sappnen* love^
Empty as ak, and imiihctnal prove. ..
VOIm ii. v
frO OTID»f M HAMOftMtOtfcf. Jfiftft* &
Bat when he found his soothing flatteries fail,
Nor saw his soft addresses could trail; '
Blustering with ire, he quickly has recourse
To rougher arts, and his own native force* "
' Tis well/ lie said, ' such usage is my due,
When thus disguis'd by foreign ways I sue;
When my stern airs and fierceness I disclaim,
And sigh for love, ridiculously tame ;
When soft addresses foolishly I try,
^jfor my own stronger remedies apply.
By force and 'violence I chiefly live,
By them the storing stormy tempests drive :
In foaming billows rape the hoary deep.
Writhe knotted oaks, atod sandy deserts sweep;
.Congeal the sidling flakes of fleecy snow,
And bruise with rattling hail the. plains below.
I and my brother winds, wnen johVd above,
Through the waste champaign of the skies we rove,
With such a boisterous roil career engage,
That heaven's whole concave thnnliers at our rage.
While, struck from nitrous cloudft, fierce lightnings
Dart through the storm, and gild the gloomy day :
Or when, in subterraneous caverns pent,
My breath against the hollow earth U bent ;
The quaking world above, and ghosts below,
My mighty power by dear experience know;
Tremble with fear, and dread the ratal blow;
This is the only cure to be applied,
Thus to Erectheus I should be allied ;
And thds the scornful virgin should be woo'd,
Not by entreaty, but by force subdued.'
Boreas in passion spoke these huffing things,
And as he spoke he shook bis dreadful wings;
p*k 6. OVID'S iqETAMOEPHOtto. 71
At which afar the shi? cring sea was rann'd,
And the wide surface of the distant land :
His dotty mantle o'er the hills he drew,
And swept the lowly valleys as he flew;
Then, with his yellow wings embrac'd the maid,
Andy wrapped in dusty clouds; far off cbnveyU
The sparkling blaxe of love's prevailing tire
Shone brighter as he flew, and flam'd the higher*
And now the god, possess^ of bis dehgbt,
To northern Thrace pawned his airy night,
Where the yoong ravished nymph became his bride,
And soon the latdoei sweets of wedlock tried.
Two Invert, twins, the* effect of this embrace,
Crown their soft labours, and their noptialt grace;
W^hwothdraiotlw,iM^tiftdandni^,
Tlieir mthtirt strength and featherM pinions share*
Yet these at irst were wanting, as Ik sold/
And after, aa they grew, their shoaMm spread.
Zttfces and Calais, the pretty twhtt,
Iff ssahYd anflcdg'd, while smooth their beardless
Bat when, in time, the bodcBng silver down
Shaded their free, and on their cheeks was grown}
Two spronting wings npon their shoulders sprang,
Like those in birds that veil the callow young.
Then as their age advanced, and they began
From greener yonth to ripen into man,
With Jason's Argonants they crossed the seas,
Embarked in quest of the fiutfd golden fleece;
There, with the rest, the first trail vessel tried,
AndbdWlyventnifdontheswelBngtide.
/
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK VII.
TRANSLATED BY TATE AND ST0NE8TREET.
THE STORY OE MEDEA AND JASON.
The Argonauts now stemM the foaming tide,
And to Arcadia's shore their coarse applied $
Where sightless Phineos spent his age in grief.
Bat Boreas' sons engage in his relief;
And those unwelcome guests, the odious race
Of Harpies, from the monarch's table chase.
With Jason then they greater toils sustain,
And Phasis' slimy banks at last they gain.
Here boldly they demand the golden prise
Of Scytbia's king, who sternly thus replies :
4 That mighty labours they must overcome,
Or sail their Argo thence unfreighted home.'
Meanwhile Medea, se&d with fierce desire,
By reason strives to quench the raging fire ;
But strives in vain!— ' Some god,' she said, * witi
stands,
And reason's baffled counsel countermands.
What unseen power does this disorder move ?
'Tis love — at least 'tis like what men call love.
}
Book f. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. ?$
Else wherefore should the king's commands appear
To me too hard ? — But so indeed they are.
Why should I for a stranger fear, lest he
Should perish, whom I did but lately see ?
His death or safety, what are they to me ?
Wretch ! from thy virgin breast this flame expel,
And soon— O could I, all would then be well !
But love, resistless love, my soul invades;
Discretion this, affection that, persuades.
I see the right, and I approve it too,
Condemn the wrong— and yet the wrong pursue.
Why, royal maid, shouldst thou desire to wed
A wanderer, and court a foreign bed ?
Thy native land, though barbarous, can present
A bridegroom worth a royal bride's consent:
And whether this adventurer lives, or dies,
In fate and fortune's fickle pleasure Ken.
Yet may he live ! for to the powers above,
A virgin, led by no impulse of love,
So just a suit may, for the guiltless, move.
Whom would not Jason's valour, youth, and blood
Invite ? or could these merits be withstood,
At least his charming person must incline
The hardest heart— I'm sure 'tis so with mine I
Yet, if I help him not, the flaming breath
Of bulls and earth-born foes must be his death.
Or, should be through these dangers force his way,
At last he must be made the dragon's prey.
If no remorse for such distress I reel,
I am a tigress, and my breast is steel.
Why do I scruple then to see him slain,
And with the tragic scene my eyes profane?
My magic's art employ, not to assuage
The savages, but to inflame their rage?
74 OVID'S METAMOBPlfoSEf. Book t.
His earth-born foes to fiercer fury move,
And accessary to his murder prove?
The gods forbid — bat prayers are idle breathy
When action only can prevent his death.
Shall I betray my father, and the state,
To intercept a rambling hero's late;
Who may sail off next hour, and, sav'd from harms
By my assistance, bless another's arms?
Whilst I, not only of my hopes bereft,
But to nnpitied punishment am left.
If he is fake, let the ingratefol bleed !
But no such symptom in his looks I read.
Nature would ne'er have lavishM so much grace
Upon his person if his soul were base.
Besides, he first shall plight his faith, and swear
By all the gods !— What therefore canst thou fearr
Medea, haste 1 from danger set him free,
Jason shall thy eternal debtor be.
And thou, his queen, with sovereign state install'd.
By Grecian dames the * Rind Preserver* call'd.
Hence idle dreams, by lovesick fancy bred !
Wilt thou, Medea, by vain wishes led,
To sister, brother, father, bid adieu.
Forsake thy country's gods and country too r
My father's harsh, my brother but a child,
My sister rivals me, my country's wild ;
And for its gods, the greatest of 'em all
Inspires my breast, and I obey his call.
That great endearments I forsake is true,
But greater far the hopes that I pursue :
The pride of having sav'd the youtlis of Greece,
(Each life more precious than our .golden fleece ;)
A nobler soil by me shall be possess'd,
I shall see towns with arts and manners bless'd >
Itook 7. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.' 7$
And, what I prize above the world beside, )
Enjoy my Jason — and when once his bride, >
Be more than mortal, and to gods allied* j
They talk of hazards I must first sustain,
Of floating islands jitstling in tlie main ;
Our tender bark expos'd to dreadful shocks
Qf fierce Chary bdis' gulf and Scylla's. rocks,
Where breaking waves in whirling eddies roll,
And ravenous dogs that in deep cavern* howl :
Amidst these terrors, while I lie possess'd
Of him I love, aqd lean on Jason's breast,
In tempests unconcern'd I will appear,
Or only for my husband's safety fear.
Didst thou say husband f-^canst thou so deceive
Thyself, fond maid, and thy own cheat believe?
In vain thou striv'st to varnish o'er thy sliame,
And grace thy guilt with Wedlock's sacred name.
Pall off the cozening mask, and db! in time
Discover and avoid the fatal crime.'
She ceas'd— the Graces now, with kind surprise, 1
And Virtue's lovely train, before her eyes >
Present themselves, and vanquish'd Cupid flies, y
She then retires to Hecate's shrine, that stood
Par in the covert of a shady wood :
She finds the fury of her flames assnagM,
But, seeing Jason there, again they rag'd.
Blushes and paleness did by turns invade
Her tender cheeks, and secret grief betray*d.
As fire, that sleeping under ashes lies,
Fresh blown and roos'd, does up in blazes rise,
So flam'd the virgin's breast
New kindled by her lover's sparkling eyes.
For chance, that day, bad with uncommon grace
Adorn' d the lovely youth, and through his face
J6 OVID's METAMORPHOSES. Btk7*
Displayed an air to pleasing as might charm
A goddess, and a vestal's besom warm.
Her ravish'd eyes survey him o'er and o'er.
As some gay wonder never seen before ;
Transported to the skies she seems to be,
And thinks she gazes on a deity.
But when he spoke, and press'd her trembling hand,-
And did with tender words her aid demand,
With vows and oaths to make her soon his bride,
She wept a flood of tears, and thus reply'd :
€ I see my error, yet to ruin move,
Nor owe my fate to ignorance, but love :
Your life I'll guard, and only crave of yon
To swear once more — and to your oath be true.*
He swears by Hecate he would all fulfil,
And by her grandfather's prophetic skill,
By every thing that doubting love could press,
His present danger and desired success.
She credits him, and kindly does produce
Enchanted herbs, and teaches him their use :
Their mystic names and virtues he admires,
And with his booty joyfully retires.
THE DRAGON'S TEETH TRANSFORMED TO MEN.
Impatient for the wonders of the day,
Aurora drives the loitering stars away.
Now Man's mount the pressing people fill,
The crowd below, the nobles crown the hill ;
The king himself high-thron'd above the rest,
With ivory sceptre, and in purple dress'd.
Forthwith the brass-hoof d bulls are set at large,
Whose furious notrils sulphurous flame discharge :
The blasted herbage by their breath expires ;
As forges rumble with excessive fires,
Bfk7. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES* 77
And furnaces with fiercer fury glow,
When water on the panting mass ye throw!
With such a noise from their convulsive breast,
Through bellowing throats, the straggling vapour
press'd.
Yet Jason marches up without concern,
While on the* adventurous youth the monsters tunr
Their glaring eyes, and, eager to engage,
Brandish their steeltipt horns in threatening rage:
With brazen hoofs they beat the ground, and choke
The ambient air with clouds of dust and smoke.
Each gazing Grecian for his champion shakes,
While bold advances he securely makes
Through singeing blasts : — such wonders magic arl
Can work, when love conspires, and plays his part.
The passive savages like statues stand,
While he their dewlaps strokes with soothing hand ;
To unknown yokes their brawny necks they yield,
And like tame oxen plough the wondering field.
The Colduana stare; the Grecians shout, and raise
Their champion's courage with inspiring praise.
Emboldened now on fresh attempts he goes,
With serpent's teeth the fertile furrows sows ;
The glebe, fermenting with enchanted juice,
Makes the snake's teeth a human crop produce.
For as an infant, prisoner to the womb,
Contented sleeps till to perfection come ;
Tlien does the cell's obscure confinement scorn,
He tosses, throbs, and presses to be born ;
So from the labouring earth no single birth,
But a whole troop of lusty youths rush forth;
And what's more strange, with martial fury warm\l>
And for encounter all completely annfd ;
78 OTID'l MITUIORFHOSEl. B—k Tl
In rank and file; mi, they were sow'd, they standi
Impatient for the signal of command.
No fbe bnt the JEmoaian youth appears ;
At him they level their steel-pointed spears :
His frighted friends, who triuraph'd just before,
With peajs of sighs his' desperate case deplore :
And where such hardy warriors are afraid,
What must the tender and enamour'd maid?
Her spirits sink, the blood her cheek forsook ;
She fears, who for his safety undertook :
She knew the virtue of the spells she gave,
She knew the force, and knew her lover brave j
But whafs a single champion to an host?
Yet scorning thus to see him tamely lost,
Her strong reserve of secret arts she brings,
And last, her never-failing song she sings.
Wonders ensue ; among his gazing foes
The massy fragment of a rock he throws :
This charm in civil war engaged 'em all ;
By mutual wounds those earth-born brothers fall.
The Greeks, transported with the strange success,
Leap from their seats the concmoror to caress ;
Commend, and kiss, and clasp bhn in their anria;
do would the kind contriver of the charms :
But her, who felt the tenderest concern,
Honour condemns in secret flames to burn ;
Committed to a double guard of fame,
Aw'd by a virgin's and a princess* name;
But thoughts are free, and fancy unconfin'd,
She kisses, courts,* and hugs him in her mind :
To favouring powers her silent thanks she gives,'
B^ whose indulgence her lov'd hero lives.
One labour more remains,- and, though the last,
In danger far surmounting all the past ;
Tbet enterprise by Rites ill store m kept,:
To make the dragon sleep that never slept*
Whose crest shoots dreadful lastre ; from m* jaw!
A triple tire of forked stings be draws,
With tot* and wings of a prodigioos site a
Such was the guardian of the gokletf print.
Yet him, besprinkled .with Lethean dew/
The fair enchantress into slumber threw; '
And then, to fix him, thrice she did repeat
The fuyaae, that makes the raging winds retreat;'
In stormy seen can halcyon seasons make,
Tnm rapid streams iilto a standing lake ;
While the soft guest his drowsy eye-lids seals,
The* angnarded golden fleece the stranger steals;
Prood to poses* the porches* of the tolly
Frond of his royal bride, the richer spoil;
To an* bath prisnund patroness be bore,
And lands tiiamphant on hp native snore,
r i
* ■
old mow stnWftm*b «r irotmt.
ffjnonjnn matrons,' who their absence inonrn'd,'
Rejoice to see;tnek prosperous sons retnttfd;
Rich carting remes of incense feast the skies,
An hecatomb of voted ricthns dies;
With gilded horns, and garlands- on their heady
And all the pomp of death, to the* altar led.
Congratulating bowls go briskly round,
Triumphant shouts in loader music drown'A .
Amidst these revels, why that cloud of care >
On Jason's brow ? (to whom the largest share >
Of mirth was doe)— His father was not there. )
JSson was* absent, once the young and brave,
Now crnsh'd with years", and bending to the gravew
&0 OVllVS MBTAMORFHOfM. BmA 7.
At last, withdrawn and by the crowd unseen, 1
Pressing her hand, (with starting sighs between) >
He supplicates his kind, and skilful queen. )
* O patroness! preserver of my lire !
(Dear when my mistress, and ranch dearer wife)
Your favours to so vast a sum amount,
'Tis past the power of numbers to recount ;
Or could they be to computation brought,
The history would a romance be thought:
And yet, unless you add one favour more,
Greater than all that yon confertt before,
But not too hard for love and magic skill ;
Your past are thrown away, and Jason's wretched
still.
The morning of my life is just began,
But my declining father's race is ran ;
From my large stock retrench the long arrears,
And add *em to expiring Arson's yean.'
Thus Spake the generous youth, and wept the rest.
Mov'd with the piety of his request,
To his ag'd sire such filial duty shown,
So different from her treatment of her own,
But still endeavouring her remorse to hide,
She check'd her rising sighs, and thus replied :
* How could the thought of such inhuman wrong-
Escape,' said she, * from pious Jason's tongue ?
Does the whole world another Jason bear,
Whose life Medea can to yours prefer ?
Or could I with so dire a change dispense,
Hecate will never join in that offence.
Uujust is the request yon make, and I
In kindness your petition shall deny:
Yet she that grants not what you do implore.
Shall yet essay to give her Jason more ;
find ■rani W increase the stock of Afeon's yean,
Without retrcsKduuent of your life's arrears ;
Provided that the trifle goddess join
A strong con federate hi my hold design.'
lias was her enterprise resolved ; hot still
Throe tedioos nights are wanting to rami
He csrcnng creseents of the^isgreniingmooa;
Then, in the height of her nocturnal noon,
Medea steals tVoaieoort; her anetes bare,
Hergannenti closely girt, hot loose her hair;
Thns sensed like a solitary sprite,
She tavern* the tenon of the night
Men, beasts, and birds, in soft repose lay cbarm'd,
No boisterous wind the aMuntain woods eJann'd;
Nordidthosowsiksofito?e,taei»yrtle-tre«i,
Of snuesas Zephyr hear the whispering hreeae;
No sense hut what 4be twinkling stars enprcssU:
To them (that -only wakti) she feats her anas,
And thns continences ber uiyeterious ebnrm*.
She turrfd her thrice about; as oft she -threw
On lier pale tresses the noiiwnal dew ;
Then yelling thrice a snoot enorasons soand,
Her bare knee bended on the flinty ground,
« O Night!' saidshe, « thou osnident and gnide
Of secrets, each as darkness ought to hide ;
Ye store and awon! that when the son retires,
Sapport his empire with saceeeding fires ;
And then, great Hecate ! friend to my design ;
Songs, mattering spells, your magic forces join ;
And thou, O earth! the niagasine that yields
The midnight sorcerer drugs; skies, nuHmtains,
fields;
f
BS OVID'S METAJfOR^HOtn. Bsafrf,
Ye watery powers of fountain, stream, and lake j
Ye silvan gods, and gods of night, awake !
And generously your parts in my adventure take.
' Oft by yonr aid swift currents I have led,
Through wandering banks, back to their fountain
Transformed the prospect of the briny deep, [head;
Madesleeping billows rave,and raving billows sleep j
Made clouds or sunshine ; tempests rise or fall ;
And stubborn lawless winds obey my call t
With rautter'd words disarmed the viper's jaw;
Up by the roots vast oaks and rocks 'could draw,
Make forests dance, and trembling mountains \
come, t
Like malefactors, to receive their doom; [tomb. £
Earth groan, and frighted ghosts forsake their )
Thee, Cynthia, my resistless rhymes drew down,
When tinkling cymbals strove my voice to drown ;
Nor stronger Titan could their force sustain,
In full career compelPd to stop his wain :
Nor could Aurora's virgin blush avail,
With poisonous herbs 1 turn'd her roses pale;
The fury of the fiery bulls I broke,
Their stubborn necks submitting to ray yoke ;
And when the sons of earth with fury bunf d,
Their hostile rage upon themselves I turn'd ;
The brothers made with mutual wounds to bleed,'
And by their fatal strife my lover freed ;
And, while the dragon slept, to distant Greece,
Through cheated guards, conveyed thegolden fleece.
But now to bolder action I proceed,
Of such prevailing juices now have need,
That witber'd years back to their bloom can bring,
And in dead winter raise a second spring,
And you'll perform '1
• «i - I* • •
Yetiwjtt; serin I tssselaieywith Hurtling firm.
Presage as bright niece* to my desires'! '
And now another happy omen tee ! ■
A chariot drawn by dragons waits for me/
With thaae lest words she leapsinto* the wain!
Strokes the snakes' necks, and shakes the golden
. Kb; ...
U*U signal given, they meant op to -the sides,
And now beneath her fteitsU Tempo Iks,
wTiasestowsibe rani^ks;then to Crete SBefbcs
There Oast, Potion, Othrys, Pino**, all
TotembimvWierabootyfldl; ■■'■■>
The tribute of their verdure she collects,
Nor prond Orympoa* height his plants protects.
Some by the roots the plucks; the tender tope
Of others with her cnlttngetekle crops/
Nor cooid the piander of the hills suntee;
i
Sustain, nor could Saspeoj* nsntescep*; [lunged;
Though IImMs asatih, and thfesnjb the border
Whose pasture Qlanoas to a Triton dsMjs/dV
Noar the ninth day, and ninth socoesrite aiah t,
Had wondert at the notices wwert flight; <
Meanwhile her dragons, fed with no repast,
Bat her ezbalhig statutes' odoroujblas^ [east
Their tandshM seeks, and wrinkled skins hod
At last returned before her palace gate,
Quitting her chariot; en the gronnd she sate,
The sky her only canopy of state*
All conversation with tor sex she Sed,
Shon'd the caresses of the nuptial bed :
Two altars next of grassy turf she rears,
ThisHecate's nams, the* Youth's ioseription bears;
84 OYIlft iUTAHOKFBOffB*. JB—k7,
With forest boughs and Terrain these she crowrfd
Then delves a doable trench in lower ground,
And sticks a bbck-fleec'd ram, that ready stood,
And drench'd the ditches with devoted blood :
New wine she poors, and milk from the* odder
warm, I
With mystic mormon to complete the charm, {
And subterranean deities alarm.
To the stern king of ghosts she next applied.
And gentle Proserpine, his ravish'd bride,
That for old JEson with the laws of fate
They would dispense, and lengthen bis short dati
Thus with repeated prayers she long assails
The* infernal tyrant, and at last prevails;
Then calls to have decrepit JSson brought,
And stopifies him with a sleeping draught ;
On earth his body, like a corps, extends,
Then charges Jason and his waiting friends
To quit the place, that no unhallow'd eye
Into her art's forbidden secrets pry.
This done, the* enchantress, with her locks unboui*
About her altars trips a frantic round;
Piecemeal the consecrated wood she splits,
And dips the splinters in the bloody pits,
Then hurls 'em on the piles — the sleeping sire
She lostrates thrice, with sulphur, water, fire.
In a large cauldron now the med'cine boils,
Compounded of her late collected spoils,
Blending into the mesh the various pow'rs
Of wonder-working juices, roots, and flow'rs.;
With gems i'the* eastern ocean's cell refin'd,
And such as ebbing tides had left behind :
To them the midnights pearly dew she flings,
A screech-owl's carcase, and ill-boding wings;
BHkfi tfvift* toJMosiraofxt; 65
Nor could the wizard wolf* warm entrails scape;
(That wolf who counterfeits a human shape)
Then, from the bottom of tier collaring bag,
Ssadtes-skinsy and liter of a kmfJttM stag;
I*st a crow's head, to such an age arrWd,
That he bad now atee centuries survWd 2
These, and with these m wMUsnnd more that grew
In sundry soils, Into her pot she threw ;
Then with a wfther*d oirre bough she rakes
The babbling broth ; thebough fresh verdure takes 3
Gteen leuves at first- me- perish VI plant surround^
Which tfctenertnmiute with ripefrtiitwerecrown'd,
The fbanungjuioes now the brink t/er-swell : :
The barren heath, where'er the liquor All;
Sprang out with reran! great, and all the pride
Of blooming May—When this Bfedeosnied^
She cuta her paltanti Uuuat; the* enfaaastod blood
Recruiting with her iiew-ewe^tmgfloetf;
WhileatHBiaoutn,ajxl1hro«ght*
A double inlet her hnwiion found :
£Bs feeble frame resumes a youthful air,
A glossy brown his heniy beard and hair,
The meagre paleness from ins aspect fled,
And hi its room ■prang up a florid red 5
lVoot^aUliUb^bsayottthralTig(Hirflie«,
His emptied arteries swell with fresh supplies
Gazing spectators scarce believe their eyes.
Bnt JEson is the most surprise to find
A nappy change in body and in mind ;
In sense and constitution the same man,
As when hisfiwtiutnnctlfe year began.
Bacchus* who from the cloacfetbis wonder}
Medea's methcfcl instantly pursued, [vieWd,t
And Ins indulgent nave's youth renewed. )
vol. n« a
lies: V
86 OVIB'S METAMORPHOSE**-* Book 7>
THE DEATH OF PEL I AS.
Thus far obliging love employ'd her art,
Bat now revenge most act a tragic part.
Medea feigns a mortal quarrel, bred
Betwixt her and the partner of her bed ;
On this pretence t» Pelias' conrt she flies,
Who languishing with age and sickness lies ;
His gniltless daughters with inveigling wiles, •
And well-dissembled friendship, she beguiles :
The strange achievements of her art she tells,-
With JEson's cure, and long on that she dwells,
Till them to firm persuasion she has won,
The same for their old father may be done :
For him they court her to employ her skill,
And put upon the cure what price she will.
At first she's mute, and with a grave pretence
Of difficulty holds 'em in suspense;
Then promises, and bids 'em, from the fold
Choose out a ram, the most infirm and old ;
That so by fact their doubts may be remov'd,
And first on him the operation prov'd.
A wreath-horn'd ram is brought, so far o'ergrown
With years, his age was to that age unknown ;
Of sense too dull the piercing point to feel,
And scarce sufficient blood to stain the steel.
His carcase she into a cauldron threw,
With drugs whose vital qualities she knew ;
His limbs grew less, he casts his horns and years,
And tender bleatings strike their wondeiing ears. -
Then instantly leaps forth a frisking lamb,
That seeks (too young to graze) a suckling dam.
The sisters, thus confirmed with the success,
Her promise with renew'd intreaty press;
B—kY. OVltVs BfCTAMORPHOSSS. 87
To countenance the cheat, three eights And days
Before experiment the* enchantress stays j
Then into limpid water, from the springs,
Weeds and ingredients of no force the flings ;
Witfc antique ceremonies for pretence,
And rsmhlimg rhymes without a word of seme. '
Meanwhile* the king vritfcaUhisgnardslay boond
In magic sleep, scarce that of death so sound;
The daughters now are by the sorceress led
Into his chesmber, and surround his bed.
* Yew fatberti health's concentf, and can ye stay?
Unnaturul nymphs, why this nnkind delay ?
Unshm^jonrswoidfdisnw»)iislis>kmldood,
And IH recruit it wi|h a vital flood :
Your fitlMrt lift MjdhenltJt^ .
And can ye tin* Ifee idle gaiOT stand* -
Unless yen are of common sense bereft,
If yet one snack of piety is left,
Dispatch a other's care; and disengage
The monarch from his toilsome load of age:
Come— Klrench your weapons in his putrjd gore ;
Tis charity to wound, when wounding will restore/
Thus urgf d, the poor deluded maids proceed,
Betray'd by seal to an inhuman deed j
And, in compassion, make a father bleed,
Yes, she who had the kindest, tenderest heart,
Is foremost to perform the bloody part
Yet, though to act the butehery betray'd,
They could not bear to see the wounds they
With looks averted backward they advance, .
Tken8trike,ae4stab,aud leave the blowsto chance.
Waking hi consternation, he essays
(Weltering hi blood) hm feeble arms to raise,
88 OVID'S MKTAMQBFHOMI. £m* T.
Environ'd with so many swords—' From whence
This barbarons usage ? what is my offence ?
What fatal fury, what infernal charm,
'Gainst a kind father does his daughters arm T
Hearing his voice, as thunder-struck they stop'd,
Their resolution and their weapons drop'd :
Medea then the mortal blow bestows,
And, that perform'd, the tragic scene to close,
His corps into the boiling cauldron throws.
Then dreading the revenge that must ensue,
High-mounting on her dragon-coach she flew ;
And in her stately progress through the skies,
Beneath her shady Pelion first she spies,
With Othrys, that above the clouds did rise;
With skilful Chiron's cave and neighbouring J
ground, f
For old Cerambus' strange escape renown'd, C
By nymphs deliver^ when the world was drown'd ; )
Who him with unexpected wings supplied,
When delug'd hills a safe retreat denied,
TEolian Pitane on her left hand
She saw, and there the statued dragon stand ;
With Ida's grove, where Bacchus, to disguise
His son's bold theft, and to secure the prize,
Made the stol'n steer a stag to represent
Oocytes' father's sandy monument ;
And fields that held the murdered sire's remains,
Where howling Maera frights the startled plain?.
Euryphilus' high town, with towers defac'd
By Hercnles, and matrons more disgrac'd
With sprouting horns, in signal punishment,
From Juno or resenting Venus sent
Then Rhodes, which Phoebus did so dearly prize,
And Jove no less severely did chastise,
\
B—k f . OVUft MnAMQUMMMM* 89
For he the wiiard native's poisoning tight,
That ns'd the farmer's hopeful crops to blight,
In rage, o'erwhelar'd with everlasting night. ,
Gerthahrs ancient walls cone nest in view,
Where enee the aire almost a statue grew
With wonder, which a strange event did move,
BBs daughter tnm'd into a turtle-dove.
Then Hyrie's lake, and Temped field o'erran*
tfam'd for the hoy who there became a swan ;
For there tnamnnrVi PbiUw, like a slave,
Peribntfd what tasks his pananoar would crave.
For presents he had aMmntain-vultures caught,
And from the desert a tame lion brought;
TlienawildbnlloMnmmnried tosubdne,
The eonomn'dmvege by the norm b« drew;.
But mock'd so oft, the treatment be dhtfsjns,
And from the craving hoy this prise detains.
Then thus in chokr the resenting lads
• Wont yon deliver him fv-Youll wish yen M i
No sooner said, bat in a peevish meed,
Leap'd from the precipice on which he stood :
The standers-by were struck with fresh surprise
Instead of falling, to behold him rise
A snowy swan, and soaring to the skies.
But dearly the rash prank his mother cost,
Who ignorantly gave her son lor lost ;
For bis misfortune wept, till she became
A lake, and still renown'd with Hyrie's name.
Thence to T atonal isle, where once were seenj
Transformed to birds, a monarch and his queen.
Far off she saw how old Cephisns monrn*d
His son into a seal by Phoebus turn'd ;
And where, mtsnsmM at a stranger sight,
Enmeras gas*d on his winf/d daughter's flight.
a:
rbe,i
90 OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. Jfeffc 7,
jEtoltan Pleunra she did next survey,
Where rani a mother*! murder did essay,
Bat sudden plumes the matron bore away.
On her right hand, Cyllene, a fair soil,
Fair, till Menephron there the beauteous hiH
Attempted with foul incest to defile.
Her harness'd dragons now direct she drives
For Corinth, and at Corinth she arrives ;
Where, if what old tradition tells be true,
In former ages men from mushrooms grew.
But here Medea finds her bed supplied,
During her absence, by another bride;
And, hopeless to recover her lost game,
She sets both bride and palace in a flame.
Nor could a rival's death her wrath assuage.
Nor stop'd at Creou's family her rage ;
She murders her own infants, in despight
To faithless Jason, and in Jason's sight :
Yet ere his sword could reach her, up she springs,
Securely mounted on her dragon's wings. ,
THE STORY OF JEGRVS.
From hence to Athens she directs her flight,
Where Phineus, so renown'd for doing right ;
Where Periphas, and Polyphemon's niece,
Soaring with sudden plumes, amaz'd the towns of
Greece.
Here ASgeus so engaging she addressed,
That first be treats her like a royal guest ;
Then takes the sorceress for his wedded wife ;
The only blemish of his prudent life.
Meanwhile his son, from actions of renown,
Arrives at court, but to his sire unknown.
9m* r. orip'i iun**b$jhio9X*. 91
HeoVa, to£ipatchao>*t^roasheir,
(She knew faim) (fid a poisonous draught prepare ;
Drawn from a drag, m long reservd in store
For desperate met from the Scythian shore ;
That from the Edrydnosan inonster'sjaws
Derive its origin, aiidthb 11k cause.
Through a dark cave a craggy passage Met,
To obi ascending from the nether skies; '
Through which, by strength or1iand,Alcidesdrew
Chahro Cerberus, who lag'd, and rat ti vegrew,
with- Iris Uear*d eyes onr brighter day to "view.
Thrice he repeated his enormous yell,
with which he scares the ghosts, and starves 1iell;
At last outrageous (thongh eempell'd to yield)'
He sheds bis Aon falhty on the field;
Which, wHfaits owi^sssdraiiknessof the ground,)
M: roojocv a weeu, oy ■orcurcrs rauown/u, v
The strongest constitution to couJbund, 3
CeftM aconite, because it can unlock
Alt ban, and force its passage through a rock*
The pfousmtber, by her wheedles won; '
Presents this deadly potion to his son;
Who with the same assurance takes the cop,
And to the monarch's health had drank it np,
Jtat in the very instant be applied
The goblet to bis lips, old JEgeps spied
The ivory-bitted sword that gracfd his side.
That certain signal of his son he knew,
And snatchM the bowl away ; the sword be drew,
Resolv*d,ibrsochasos^ciidaiigerVlnYe,
To sacrifice the most perfidious wire. '
Revenge is swift, bat her more active charms
A whirlwind rsss'd, that snatdfd her from bis arms.
npnani Dies. J
>'erjoy*d to find )
ill in mind r
queen dcsign'd j >
02 OVID'* METAMORPHOSE*. B—k 7.
While conjur*d clouds their baffled sense surprise, 1
6he vanishes from their deluded eyes, f
And tlirongh the hurricane triomphant flies. 3
The generous king, although o
His son was safe, yet bearing still
The mischief by his treacherous
The horror of the deed, and then how near
The danger drew, he stands congeal'd with fear.
But roon that fear into devotion turns,
With grateful incense every altar bnrns j
Proud victims, and unconscious of their fate,
Stalk to the temple, there to die in state.
In Athens never had a day been found
For mirth, like that grand festival, renown'd.
Promiscuously the peers and people dine,
Promiscuously their thankful voices jojn,
Iu songs of wit, sublim'd by sprightly wine.
To listening splieres their joint applause they raise,
And thus resound their matchless Theseus* praise.
' Great Theseus ! thee the Marathonian plain
Admires, and wears with pride the noble stain
Of the dire monster's blood, by valiant Theseus
slain.
That now Cromyon's swains in safety sow,
And reap their fertile field, to thee they owe.
By thee the' infested Epidaurian coast
Was clear'd, and now can a free commerce boast.
The traveller his journey can pursue,
With pleasure the late dreadful valley view,
And cry, " Here Theseus the grand robber slew
Opticus' flood cries to his rescued shore,
The merciless Procrustes is no more.
In peace, Eleusis, Ceres' rites renew,
Since Theseus' sword the fierce Cercyon slew.
I
,\
&4*k7. 04U»'S MlTAlfOUpHOSgf. $$
By him the torturer Sons was destroyed, [phr/d)
Of strength (bat strength to barbarous use em-
That tops of tallest pines to earth could beady
And that inpieces wretched captives rend,
Inhojnan Scyroa now hm breath'd bis last,
And now AlcanWs road's securely pats'd t
By Theseus slain and thrown into the deep:
Bat earth nor sea his scattered bones would keep.
Which, after floating long, a rock became.
Still infamous wijh $cyroifs hated name.
When fame to count thy acts and years proceeds,
Thy years appear but ciphers to thy deeds.
For thee, brave youtb^ as for our commonwealth*
We pray; and drink, in yours, the public health.
Tour praise the senate and plebeians sing,
With your loVd nasse.tbe court and cottage ring,
You njske our shepherds and our sailors glad,
And not a house in tbjs "vast city's sad.'
But mortal bliss will never come sincere,
Pleasure may lead, but grief brings up the rear;
While for Ins sou's arrival, rev'Ung joy
4Bgeus and all Us subjects does employ ;
While they for only costly masts prepare,
His ndghbouring monarch, Minos, threatens warf
Weak in land-forces, nor by sea more strong,
But powerful in a deep-resented wrong
For a son's murder, arm'd with pious rage %
Vet prudently before be would engage,
To raise amriliaries resoly'd to sail,
And with the powerful pijnces to prevail
First Anapb£, then proud Astypahea gains,
By presents that, and this by threats obtains;
Low Mycone, Cymelns, chalky soil,
fall Cythnos, Scyros, hut Seriphos' isle j
94 OVID'S METAMOVPHOSB*. Atffc T.
Paros, with marble cliffs afar disptay'd ;
Impregnable Sithonia j yet betray'd,
To a weak foe by a gold-admiring maid,
Who, chang'd into a daw of sable hoe,
Still hoards up gold, and hides it from the view.
But as these islands cheerfully combine,
Others refose to* embark in his design.
Now leftward with an easy sail he bore,
And prosperous passage to CEnopta's shore;
CEnopia once, bnt now ASgina call'd,
And with his royal mother's name install'd
By A&acus, under whose reign did spring
The Myrmidons, and now their reigning king.
Down to the port, amidst the rabble, run
The princes of the blood ; with Telamon,
Pelens the next, and Phocus the third son :
Then ASacus, although oppressed with years,
To ask the cause of their approach appears.
That question does the Gnossian's grief renew,
And sighs from his afflicted bosom drew ;
Yet after a short solemn respite made,
The ruler of the hundred cities said :
' Assist our arms, rais'd for a murdered son,
In this religious war no risk you'll run :
Revenge the dead for who refuse to give
Rest to their urns, unworthy are to live/
' What you request,' thus iEacns replies,
' Not I, but truth and common faith denies ;
Athens and we have long been sworn allies ;
Our leagues are fix'd, confederate are our pow'rs,
And who declare themselves their foes, are ours.'
Minos rejoins, * Your league shall dearly cost]'
(Yet, mindful how much safer 'twas to boast,
}
Boole 7. ovid's metamorphoses. 95
Than there to waste his forces and his fame,
Before in field with his grand foe he came)
Parts without blows — nor long had left the shore,
Ere into port another navy bore,
With Cephalus and all his jolly crew ;
The* iEacides their old acquaintance knew :
The princes bid him welcome, and in state
Conduct the hero to their palace gate;
Who, entering, seem'd the charming mien to wear,
As when in youth he paid his visit there.
In Ins right hand an olive-branch he holds,
And, salutation pass'd, the chief unfolds
His embassy from the Athenian state,
Their mutual friendship, leagues of ancient date ;
Their common danger, every thing could wake
Concern, and his address successful make t
Strengthening his plea with all the charms of sense,
And those with all the charms of eloquence.
Then thus the king : < like suitors do you stand,
For that assistance which you may command ?
Athenians, all our listed forces use,
(They're such as no bold service will refuse);
And when you've drawn them off, the gods be prais'd,
Fresh legions can within bur isle be rais'd r
So stock'd with people, that we can prepare
Both for domestic and for distant war ;
Ours, or our friends' insulters to chastise.'
f Long may ye flourish thus 1' the prince replies,
' Strange transport seiz'd me as I pass'd along,
To meet so many troops and all so young,
As if your army did of twins consist;
Yet amongst them my late acquaintance miss'd ;
Ev'n all that \o your palace did resort,
l^hen first you entertain'd me at your court,
96* OVID't METAMORPHOSES. Bufc 7.
And cannot guess the cause from whence could
spring
So vast a change.' — Then thus the sighing king :
' Illustrious guests ! to my strange tale attend,
Of sad beginning, but a joyful end ;
The whole to a vast history would swell,
I shall but half, and tliat confus'dly, tell.
That race, who so deservedly you admir*d,
Are all into their silent tombs retir d ;
They fell; and, falling, how they shook my state,
Thought may conceive, but words can ne'er relate.'
THE STORY OF ANTS CHANGED TO MEN.
BY 8TONESTREET.
A dreadful plague from angry Juno came,
To scourge the land that bore her rival's name ;
Before her fatal anger was reveaTd,
And teeming malice lay as yet conceaTd,
All remedies we try, all med'cines use,
Which nature could supply, or art produce ;
The' unconquer'd foe derides the vain design,
And art and nature, foil'd, declare the cause divine.
At first we only felt the oppressive weight
Of gloomy cloud*, then teeming with our fate,
And labouring to discharge unactive heat ;
But ere four moons alternate changes knew,
With deadly blasts the fatal south-wind blew,
Infected all the air, and poison'd as it flew.
Our fountains too a dire infection yield,
For crowds of vipers creep along the field,
And with polluted gore, and baneful steams,
Taint all the lakes, and venom all the streams.
The young disease with milder force began,
And rag*d on birds and beasts, excusing man.
■\
Bo0k 7. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 97
The labouring oxen fall before the plough,
The' unhappy ploughmen stare, and wonder how :
The tabid sheep, with sickly bleatings, pines ;
Its wool decreasing, as its strength declines ;
The warlike steed, by inward foes compell'd,
Neglects his honours, and deserts the field ;
Unnerv'd, and languid, seeks a base retreat,
And at the manger groans, but wisu'd a nobler fete :
The stags forget their speed, the boars their rage,
Nor can the bears the stronger herds engage ;
A general faintness does invade 'em all,
And in the woods and fields promiscuously they fall.
The air receives the stench, and (strange to say)
The ravenous birds and beasts avoid the prey :
The* offensive bodies rot upon the ground,
And spread the dire contagion all around.
But now the plague, grown to a larger size,
Riots on man, and scorns a meaner prize.
Intestine heats begin the civil war,
And flushings first the latent flame declare,
And breath inspired, which seem'd like fiery air
Their black dry tongues are swell'd, and scarce
can move,
And short thick sighs from panting lungs are drove.
They gape for air, with flattering hopes t* abate
Their raging flames, but that augments their heat
No bed, no covering can the wretches bear,
But on the ground, expos'd to open air,
They lie,and hope to find apleasing coolness there,
The suffering earth, with that oppression cnrs'd,
Returns the heat which they imparted first.
In vain physicians would bestow their aid,
Vain all their art, and useless all their trade ;
1
.1
96 OVIll't M ETAMOBPHOSBft. Batk 7.
And they, ev*n they, who fleeting life recti.
Feel the same powers, and imdwtingnUh'd fall*
If any proves so daring to attend
His sick companion or his darling friend.
The* officious wretch sucks in contagions breath,
And with his friend does sympathize in death.
And now the care and hopes of life are past,
They please their fancies, and indulge their taste;
At brooks and streams, regardless of their shame,
Each sex, promiscuous, strives to quench their flame;
Nor do they strive in vain to quench it there,
For thirst, and life, at once extingnish'd are.
Thus in the brooks the dying bodies sink,
But heedless still the rash survivors drink*
So much uneasy down the wretches hate,
They fly their beds to struggle with their fate ;
But if decaying strength forbids to rise, [lies.
The victim crawls and rolls, till on the ground he
Each shuns his bed as each would shun his tomb,
And thinks the' infection only lodg'd at home.
Here one with fainting steps does slowly creep
O'er heaps of dead, and straight augments the heap ;
Another, while his strength and tongue prevailed,
Bewails his friend, and falls himself bewail'd ;
This with imploring looks surveys the skies,
The last dear office of his closing eyes,
But finds the heavens implacable, and dies.
What now, ah ! whatemploy'd my troubled mind,
But only hopes my subjects' rate to find ?
What place soe'er my weeping eyes survey,
There in lamented heaps the vulgar lay ;
As acorns scatter when the winds prevail,
Or mellow fruit from shaken branches fall.
}
nu;
BHk7i OnV*t MXTAMORPHOtEt. . 99
Yon see that dome which rears its front so high :
Tit mcred to the monarch of the sky :
How many there with unregarded tears.
And fruitless vows, sent op successless pray*rs !
'lucre fathers for expiring sons impjor'd,
And there the wife bewaiTd her gasping lord ;
With pious offerings they appease the skies,
Bat they,, ere yet the* atoning vapour* rise;
Before the ajtars rail, themselves a sacrifice]
They rail, while yet their hands the gams contain.
Their gtumt surviving, bat. their offerers slain*
The destip'd'o*, with holy garlands crown'd,
Prevents the Mow,nnd feels an unexpected wound j
When I myself jnvok'd the powers divine,
To drive the ratal pest from me and mine:} . .
When now the priest with hands uplifted stood/
PreparM to strike and shed the sacred Mood,
The gods thcmaclvci the mortal stroke bestow,
The victim mils, not they impart the blow;
Scarce was the knife, with the pale purple stated,}
And no presages could be then obtahVd, >
From putrid entrails, where the* infection reigaTd. y
Death stalk'd around with such resistless sway, >
The temples of the gods ras force obey, >
And suppliants feelhisstroke,while yet they pray. )
1 Go now,' said he, ' your deities implore
For fruitless aid, for I defy their now*.'
Then with a curs'd ruaUcioos joy survey'd
The very altars stain'd with trophies of the dead.
The. rest grown mad, and frantic with despair,
Urge their own fate, and so prevent the fear.
Strange madness that, when death pursued so fast,
To1 anticipate the Mow with impious haste.
100 otio't MRAMOftnmsa. Asrib T.:
No decent honour to their urns are paid,
Nor could the graves receive the numerous dead ;
For, or they lay onbtiried on the ground,
Or unadorn'd, a needy Amend found ;
All reverence past, the faulting wretches fight
For funeral piles, which were another's right.
Unmonrn'd they fall ; for, who surviv'd to mourn ?
And sires and mothers unlamented burn :
Parents and sons sustain an equal fate,
And wandering ghosts their kindred shadows meet.
The dead a larger space of ground require,
Nor are the trees sufficient for the fire.
Despairing under griefs oppressive weight,
And sunk by these tempestuous blasts of rate,
* O Jove !' said I, ' if common fame says true,
If e'er JEgina gave those joys to you ;
If e'er yon lay indos'd in her embrace,
Fond of her charms, and eager to possess ;
0 father ! if you do not yet disclaim
Paternal care, nor yet disown the name ;
Grant my petitions, and with speed restore
My subjects numerous as they were before ;
Or make mc partner of the rate they bore.'
1 spoke, and glorious lightning shone around,
And rattling thunder gave a prosperous sound ;
* So let it be, and may these omens prove
A pledge/ said I, ' of your returning love V
By chance a reverend oak was near the place.
Sacred to Jove, and of Dodona's race ;
Where frugal ants laid up their winter meat,
Whose little bodies bear a mighty weight ;
We saw them march along and hide their store, '
And much admir'd their number and their powf:
Admir'd at first, but after envied more.
re,)
jBmk T. OVID'S NKTAMOBPHOtEf. . 101
Foil of settlement, thus to Jove I pray'd, 1
* O grant, since tfujs my subjects are decayed, \
As many subjects to supply the dead!* )
I pray'd, and strange convulsions mov'd the oak,
Wateh nsrnar'd, though by ambient winds mi-
stook:
My trembling hands, and stiff-erected hair,
Expressed all tokens of uncommon fear ;
Yet both the earth and sacred oak I kist'd,
And scarce could hope, yet still I bop'd the best j
For wretches, whatsoe'er the fetes divine,
Expound all omens to tfceir.own design.
Butnow 'twas night* when evln distraction wears
A pleasing look, aw} oreams begoile our cares.
JLoi the same oak appears before my eyes*
Nor arter*d in his shape, nor former sine;
As many ants the nnmerone branches bear,
The same their labour, and their frugal care;
The branches too alike commotion round,
And shook the' industrious creatures on the ground,
WJio, by degrees, (what's scarce to fee believed)
A nobler form, and larger bulk received ;
And on the earth walk'd an unusual pacer
With manly strides and an erected race ;
-Their numerous legs and former colour lost,
The insects could a human figure boast.
I wake, and waking jind my cares again,
And to the unperforming gods complain ;
And call their promise and pretences vain.
Yet in my court I heard the murmuring voice-
Of strangers, and a mix'd uncommon noise ;
But I suspected all was still a dream,
Till Telamon to my apartment came,
VOL. II. H
I
102 OTID'i METAMORPHOSES. 8osfc7.
Opening the door with an impetuous Haste,
' O come/ said be, ' and see your faith and hopes
surpass*d.'
I follow, and, confus'd with wonder, view
Those shapes which my presaging slumbers drew :
I saw, and own'd, and caU*d them subjects ; they
Confess'd my power, submissive to my sway.
To Jove, restorer of my race decay'd,
My vows were first with due oblations paid.
I then divide with an impartial hand
My empty city, and my ruin'd land,
To give the new-born youth an equal share,
And call them Myrmidons, from what they were.
You saw their persons, and they still retain
The thrift of ants, though now transfbrm'd to men.
A frugal people, and innr*d to sweat,
Labouring to gain, and keeping what they get
These, equal both in strength and years, shall join
Their willing aid, and follow your design,
With the first southern gale that shall present
To fill your sails, and favour your intent.
CONTINUED BY TATE,
With such discourse they entertain the day ;
The evening pass'd in banquets, sport, and play :
Then, having crown'd the night with sweet repose,
Aurora (with the wind at east) arose.
Now Pallas' sons to Cephalus resort,
And Cephalus with Pallas' sons to court,
To the king's levee ; him, sleep's silken chain,
And pleasing dreams, beyond his hour detain ;
But then the princes of the blood in state
Expect, and meet 'em at the palace-gate.
Book 7. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 105
THE STORY OF CEpAlUS AND PROCRIS.
To the' inmost courts the Grecian youths were led,
And plac'd by Phocus on a Tyriaa bed j
Who, soon obsenring Cephalns to hold
A dart of unknown wood, bat arm'd with gold;
* None belter loves,' said he, ( the huntsman's sport,
Or does more often to the woods resort ;
Yet I that javelin's stem with wonder view,
Too brown for box, too smooth a grain for yew.
I cannot guess the tree ; but never art
Did form, or eyes behold, so fair a dart f
The guest then interrupt* him — "Twoald produce
Still greater wonder, if you knew its use.
It never mils to strike the game, and then
Comes bloody back into your hand again.'
Then Phocus each particular desires,
And the* author of the wondrous gift inquires.
To which the owner thus, with weeping eyes,
And sorrow for Ids wife's sad fate, replies :
1 This weapon here, O prince ! can you believe
This dart the cause for which so much I grieve,
And shall continue to grieve on, till fate
Afford such wretched life no longer date?
Would 1 this fatal gift had ne'er enjoy'd t
This fatal gift my tender wife destroy 'd :
Procris her name, allied in charms and blood
To fair Orytliia, courted by a god.
Her father seal'd my hopes with riles divine,
But firmer love before had made her mine.
Men call'd me bless*d, and Mess'd I was indeed :
The second month our nuptials did succeed ;
When (as upon Hymettus' dewy head
For mountain stags my net betimes I spread)*
s
#
104 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bo?k 7.
Aurora spied, and ravit^d me away,
With reverence to the goddess, I most say.
Against ray will; for Procris had my heart,
Nor would her image from my thoughts depart.
At last, iu rage she cried, " Ingrateftil boy,
Go to your Procris, take your filial joy ;n
And so dismissal me. — Musing as I went,
What those expressions of the goddess meant,
A thousand jealous fears possess me now,
Lest Procris had profan'd her nuptial ?ow :
Her youth and charms did to my fancy paint
A lewd adoltress, but her life a saint.
■Yet I was absent long, the goddess too
Taught me how far a woman could be true.
Aurora's treatment much suspicion bred ;
BeHides, who truly love, ev'n shadows dread.
I straight impatient for the trial grew,
What courtship back'd with richest gifts could do.
Aurora's envy aided my design,
And lent me features mr unlike to mine.
In this disguise to my own house I came,
But all was chaste, no conscious sign of blame:
With thousand arts I scarce admittance found,
And then beheld her weeping on the ground
For her lost husband ; hardly 1 retained
My purpose, scarce the wish'd embrace refrain'd.
How charming was her grief ! then, Pbocus, guess
What killing beauties waited on her dress.
Her constant answer, when my suit I press'd,
" Forbear, my -lord's dear image guards this breast;
Where'er he is, whatever cause detains,
Whoe'er has bis, my heart unmovM remains."
What greater prooft of truth than these conld be?
Yet I persist, and urge my destiny.
{
B—k f. ovtirt WTAMompHotH^ 10S
At length she found, when my own form retimed,
Her jealous lever there, whose loss she moura'd.
Enrag'd with my sa*picioa, swift as wind
She fled at once from me and sH mankind ;
And so became, her purpose to retain,
A nymph aad huntress fas Diana's train :
Forsaken thos, I found my tenet increase, •
I own'd-my f»Uy» and I saed for peace.
It was a findt, but notof guilt to move
finch pmaafifmait r—a matt of toe maeh love,
Thee I retriev'd her to my longing artrn^
And many happy days pomem*d her charms.
But wMh hersthf she kindly dM coaler
What gifts the goddess had bestowfron her; '
The fleetest e^ey-bound, with this lovely dart,
And I of both have wonders to impart.
Near Thebes a savamm beast, of race unknown,
Laid mama the fluid sanMiiiiii lln vineyards down";
The swahssAed fton* mm, and with one consent
Our Grecian youth to chase the monster went ;
Mora swift than fiabtahsg he the toite sujpass'd,
And in his course, spears, men, and trees o*ercasti
We sKpM our dogs, and last my Lelaps too,
When none of all the mortal race woald do :■
He long before was struggling from my hands,
And, ere we could unloose him, broke his bands*
That minute where he was we could not find,
And only saw the dust be left behind.
I climb'd a neignbouring hill to view the chase,
While in the plain they held an equal race;
The savage now seems caught, aad now by force
To quit ntaiself, nor holds the same straight coarse ;
Bat running counter from the foe withdraws,
And with short turning cheats his gaping Jaws; -•
106 OVltit M NAM OBFHOtM. £m* 7,
Which he retrieves, and stilL to closely prew'd,
You'd fear at every stretch ne were poaseas'd :
Yet for the gripe his fangs in vain prepare ;
The game shoots from him, and he chops the air.
To cast ray javelin then I took my stand;
But as the thongs were fitting to my hand,
While to the valley I o'erloek'd the wood,
Before my eyes two marble statues stood;
That as panned appearing at fall stretch,
This, barking after, and at point to catch :
Some god their coarse did with this wonder grace,
That neither might be conquered in the chase.'
A sadden silence here his tongne suppressed,
He here stops short, and rain would wave the rest
The eager prince then urg*d him to impart
The fortune that attended on tip dart.
* First then,' said he, * past joys let me relate,
For bliss was the foundation of my fate.
No language can those happy hours express,
Did from our nuptials me and Procris bless :
The kindest pair! what more could heav'n confer?
For she was all to me, and I to her.
Had Jove made love, great Jove had been despis'd;
And I my Procris more than Venus priz'd.
Thus while no other joy we did aspire,
We grew at last one soul and one desire.
Forth to the woods I went at break of day,
(The constant practice of ray youth) for prey :
Nor yet for servant, hone, or dog did call,
I found this single dart to serve for all.
With slaughter tir'd, I sought the cooler shade,
And winds that from the mountains piere'd the
" Come, gentle air, (so was I wont to say) [glade;
Come, gentle air, sweet Aura come away ;
Boole 7. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. . 107
(This always was the burden of my song),
Come .'swage my flames, sweet Aura come along.
Thou always art most welcome to my breast ;
I mint ; approach, thou dearest, kindest guest !"
These blandishments, and more than these, I said,
(By (ate to unsuspected rain led)
* Then art my Joy, for thy dear sake I love
Each desert hill, and solitary grove ;
When (mint with labour) I refreshment need,
For cordials on thy fragrant breath I feed."
At last a wandering swain in hearing came,
And, cheated with the sound of Aura's name,
He thought I had some assignation made ;
And to my Proeris' ear the news convey'd.
Great love is soonest with suspicion nVd;
She swoosr" d, and with the tale almost expir'd.
"Ah! wretched heart r she cried, "ah! faithless
man!"
And then to curse the* fanaghfd nymph began ;
Yet oft she doubts, oft hopes she is deceWd,
And chides herself, that ever she belie^d
Her lord to such injustice could proceed,
Till she herself were witness of the deed.
Next morn I to the woods again repair,
And, weary with the chase, invoke the air :
" Approach, dear Aura, and my bosom cheer :*
At which a mournful sound did strike my ear ;
Yet I proceeded, till the thicket by,
With rustling noise and motion drew my eye ;
I thought some beast of prey was sheftterV! there,
And to the covert threw my certain spear;
From whence a tender sight my soul did wound,
u Ah me!* it cried, and did like Proeris sound.
108 <mirt MsrAMoxFBMK m*r.
Procris was there; too wefl the voice I knew, •
And to the place with headlong honor flew;
Where I beheld her gasping on the graeod,
In vain attempting from the deadly wound
To drew the dart, her love's dear fetal gift !
My gnilty arms had scarce the strength to lift
The beauteous load ; my silks and hair I tore
(If possible) to stanch the pressing gore ;
For pity beg*d her keep her flitting breath,
And not to leave me guilty of her death,
wlsile I intreat she minted fisrt away,
And these few words had only strength to say :
" By all the sacred bonds of plighted love,
By all your reverence to the powers above,
By all that made me charming once appear,
By all the troth for which yon held me dear,
And last by lore, the cause through which I Meed;
Let Aura never to my bed succeed I"
I then perceiv*d the error of oar fete,
And told it her, but found and told too late I
I felt her lower to my bosom fell,
And while her eyes had any sight at all,
On mine she fix'd them ; in her pangs still press'd
My hand, and sigh'd her soul into my breast;
Yet, being undeceived, resign*d her breath
Methougfat more cheerfully, and smll'd in death.*
With sneh concern the weeping hero told
This tale, that none who beard him could withhold
From melting into sympathising tears ;
Till /Eacus with bis two sons appears ;
Whom he commits, with their new-levied bands,
To fortune's and so brave a general's hands.
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK VIII.
TRANSLATED BY DRY DEN AND OTHERS.
TUB STORY OF NISUS AND SCYLLA.
BT CROXALL.
Now shone the morning-star in bright array,
To vanquish night, and usher in the day;
The wind veers southward, and moist clouds arise,
That blot with shades the blue meridian skies.
Cephalus feels with joy the kindly gales,
His new allies unfurl the swelling sails ;
Steady their course, they cleave the yielding main,
And with a wish the' intended harbour gain.
Meanwhile king Minos, on the Attic strand,
Displays his martial skill, and wastes the land.
His army lies encamp'd upon the plains,
Before Alcatboe's walls where Nisus reigns ;
On whose grey head a lock of purple hue,
The strength and fortune of his kingdom, grew*
Six moons were gone and pass'd, when still from
Victoria hover'd o'er the doubtful war. [far
So long, to both inclin'd, the* impartial maid
Between 'em both her equal wings displayed.
High on the walls, by Phoebus vocal made,
A turret of the palace rab'd its bead ;
€
110 OVID'S KBTANOmniOtn. BbsSt!
And where the god his tuneful herp resign*d,
The sound within the stones still ley enrininH :
Hither the daughter of the purple king
Ascended oft, to hear its sauste ring ;
And, striking with a pebble, wonld release
The* enchanted notes, in tunes of happy peaee.
Bat now, from thence, the curious andd beheld
Rough feats of arms, and combats of the field :
And, since the siege was long, had leara'd the name
Of every chief, his character, and fane ;
Their arms, their horse, and quiver she descried,
Nor could the dress of war the warrior hide.
Europe* son she knew above the rest,
And more than well became a virgin breast :
In vain the crested Morion veils his saee,
She thinks it adds a more peculiar grace:
His ample shield, emboss'd with burnishM gold,
Still makes the bearer lovelier to behold :
When the tough javelin, with a whirl, he sends,
His strength and skill the sighing maid commends;
Or, when he strains to draw the circling bow,
And his fine limbs a manly posture show ;
Compared with Phoebus, he performs so well,
Let her be judge, and Minos shall excel.
But when the helm, put off, displayed to sight,
And set his features in an open light;
When, vaulting to his seat, his steed he press'd,
Caparison'd in gold, and richly dress'd;
Himself in scarlet sumptuously array'd,
New passions rise, and fire the frantic maid.
' O happy spear!' she cries, ' that feels his touch;
Nay, ev*n the reins he holds are bless'd too much.'
Oh ! were it lawful, she could wing her way
Through the stern hostile troops without dismay;
M—k & - 0TID*S METAMORPHOSE*. 1 jl
Or throw her body to the distant ground.
And in the Cretan's happy camp he found*
Would Minos hot desire it! she'd expose
Her native country to her country's foes;
Unbar the gates, the town with flames infest,
Or any thing that Minos should request
And a* she sate, and pleas'd her longing sight,
Viewing the king's pavilion veiFd with white ;
* Should joy, or grief/ she said, * possess my breast,
To aee any country by a war oppressed?
Tm in suspense! for, though lis grief to know
I Ions a man that is dedarU my foe ;
Yet, in my own despite, I must approve
That tacky war, which brought the man I love.
Yet, were I tendered as a pledge of peace,
The enmities of war might quickly cease.
Oh! with what joy I'd wear the chains he gave!
A patient hostage, and a willing slave.
Thou lovely object! if the nymph that bare
Thy charming person, were but half so fair,
Weil might a god her virgin bloom desire,
And with a rape indulge his amorous fixe.
Oh ! had I wings to ghde along the air,
To his dear tent W fly, and settle there :
There tell my Quality, confess my flame.
And grant him any dowry that he'd name.
All, all I'd give ; only my native laud,
My dearest country, should excepted stand ;
For, perish love, and all expected joys,
Ere with so base a thought my soul complies !
Yet, oft the vanquiaVd some advantage find,
When conqoertt by a noble, generous mind.
Bravo Minos justly has the war begun,
FbrM with resentment for his murder'd son:
A'
us orwli mm
The righteous gods a ritbteoea
And will, with victory, hia mm reward:
We rouit be cawquer'd; mm! the cap liiift lata
Will rarely seiae a, though it m« e» kte.
Why then should love be idle; and neglect
What Mara, by anna and perils, will elect?
Oh I prince, I die, with anxious tear eypreaVuV
Lest some rath band should wound my ehanaert
breaat:
For, if they sew, no barbaront mind couMdare
Against that lovely form to raiae a spear.
« But I'm reaohr'd, and fcrtl in Una decree,
My father's country shall my dowry be i
Thus I prevent the leas of life and blood ;
And, in effect, the action must be good.
Tain resolution I for, at every gate
The trusty centinels, successive, wait:
The keys my rather keeps : ah! there's nry grief;
Tis be obstructs all hopes of my relief,
Gods! that this hated light I'd never seen!
Or, all my life, without a father been!
But gods we all may be ; for those that dare
Are gods, and fortune's chiefest favours share.
The ruling powers a lazy prayer detest,
The bold adventurer succeeds the best.
Wliat other maid, inspiVd with such a flame,
Bnt would take courage, and abandon shame ?
But would, though rain should ensue, remove
Whate'er oppos'd, and clear the way to love!
This shall another's feeble passion dare,
While I sit tame, and languish in despair?
No ; for though lire and sword before me lay,
Impatient love through both should force Hi
■way. • '
JsVsfc& OTEOV METAMORPHOSES. 115
Yet I have no such enemies to fear,
My. sole obttractm is my father's heir ;
His porptftloek my saageine hope destroys,
And clouds the prospect ef my rising joys.'
Whilst mas she spoke, amid the thickening air
Nigfattapervenes, the greatest morse of care :
And, at the goddess spreads her sable wings,
The ratio's ten decay, and courage springs.
The hoor was come, wheninan^o'erJahoor'd breast
Snreeasti its care* by downy sleep pbssess'd.
All things now faonYd, Soylu with silent tread
TJrg/d her approach to Nisns' royal bed :
There, of the rata) lock (accursed theft!)
She her eawfetnig father's head bereft.
Jn earn pamnmion of her inmions prey,
On* at n pssaern gate she takes her way,
■FmboMnirtf by the merit of the deed,
She traverses the^adversa-eamp with speed,
Tffl Minos' tent aha isathM : the righteous king
Sue tons bespoke, who shrrcr*dat the thing.
' Behold the* effect of love's resistless sway !<
I, Nisns* royal seed, to thee betray
My conntry and my gods. For this strange task,
Minos, no other boon hot thee 1 ask.
This purple lock, a pledge of lore* receive ;
No worthless present, since in it I give
My father's head.'~-Mev'd at a crime so new,
And with abhorrence JilrM, back Minos drew,
Norteochttthe'imballew'dgift; hot mnaexdainVd,
(With mien indignant, and with eyes mflam*d)
* Perdition seine theei thou, thy kind's disgrace!
May thy devoted carcase find no place
la earth, on air, or sea, by all osfecast I
Shall Minos, with so find a monster, blast
114 cnrio's METAHOKPKOSES. £••*&,
Hi* Cretan world, where cradled Jove was sanVd ?
Forbid it Hear1*! — away, thaw Most accurs'd f
And now Alcathoe, its lord exefaaiig'd,
Was onder Minos' domination rang'd :
While the most equal king hjs care applies
To curb the conqner'd, and new laws devise.
The fleet, by his cosassand, with hoisted sails,
And ready oars, invites the ■nainaimg gales.
At length the Cretan hero anchor weigfard,
Repaying, with neglect, the* abandWd maid.
Deaf to her cries, be farrows op the main ;
In vain she prays, solicits him in vain.
And now she fVnioas grows m wild despair,
She wrings her hands, and throws aloft her hair.
* Where nurstthou?1 thosshe vents her deep distress,
' Why shun st thon her that crown'd thee with suc-
Her, whose fond love to thee coald sacrifice [cess?
Her country, and her parent, sacred ties!
Can nor my love, nor preffer'd presents, find
A passage to thy heart, and make thee kind ?
Can nothing move thy pity ? O ingrate !
Can'st thou behold my lost, forlorn estate.
And not be soften'd ? Can'st thon throw off one
Who has no refuge left bot thee alone ?
Where shall I seek for comfort? whither flv?
My native country does in ashes lie :
Or were't not so, my treason bars me there,
And bids me wander. Shall I next repair
To a wrong'd lather, by my guilt undone? —
Me all mankind deservedly will shun.
I, out of all the world, myself have thrown,
To purchase an access to Crete alone ;
Which, since rerus'd, ungenerous man, give o'er
To boast thy race $ Europa never bore
^
Book 8. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 115
A tiling so savage : thee some tigress bred,
On the bleak Syrt's inhospitable bed ;
Or where Cbarybdis pours its rapid tide
Tempestuous. Thou art not to Jove allied ;
Nor did the king of gods thy mother meet
Beneath a bull's forg'd shape, and bear to Crete.
That fable of thy glorious birth is feign'd ;
Some wild outrageous bull thy dam sustain'd.
O father Nisns ! now my death behold ;
Exult, O city ! by my baseness sold :
Minos, obdurate, has aveng'd ye all,
But 'twere more just by those 1 wrbng'd to fall :
For why should'st thou, who only didst subdue
By my offending, my offence pursue?
Well art thou mateh'd to one, whose amorous flame
Too fiercely rag'd for human kind to tame ;
One who, within a wooden heifer thrust.
Courted a lowering bull's mistaken lust ;
And, from whose monster-teeming womb, the earth
Receiv'd, what much it mourn'd, a bi form birth.
But what avails my plaints? the whistling wind,
Which bears him far away, leaves them behind.
Well wetgh'd Pasiphae, when she prefer'd
A bull to thee, more brutish than the herd.
But ah ! time presses, and the labonr'd oars
To distance drives the fleet, and lose the lessening
shores.
Think not, ungrateful man, the liquid way
And threatening billows shall enforce my stay.
I'll follow thee in spite : my arms I'll throw
Around thy oars, or grasp thy crooked prow,
And drag through drenching seas.' Her eager tongue
Had hardly clos'd the speech, when forth sjie
sprung,
116 ornrt
And prov'd the deep. Caeadwita
Recruits each aer
n in iin iiiiji ■!!■!■ MiirtinpM gami
And, as with dote embrace Ho aides ska fnare\
A hawk from upper ak
(TwwNisos deft the sky with
At Scylirt head hk bony btO he
She, fcarral of the blow, the ship dtesthas,
Quitting her bold : and yet she fell act far,
But, wondering, finds nersetf sostaiaM in am
Chang'd to a lark, she mottled ainiono shesfc,
And from the ravish'd lock the amase efCSris took.
THB L4BTBIMTH.
Now Minos, landed oathe Cretan shore,
Perform* hw vows to Jove's protaetianj pewY;
A hundred bollocks of the largest breed,
With flowerets crown'd, before his altar bleed :
While trophies of the vanquished, brought from frr,
Adorn the palace with the spoils of war.
Meanwhile, the monster of a human beast,
His family's reproach and stain, iacresnM :
His double kind the rumour swiftly spread,
And evidenc'd the mother's beastly deed.
When Minos, willing to conceal the daunt
That sprung from the reports of tattling fame,
Resolves a dark indosure to provide,
And, far from sight, the two-rorarVt creature bide.
Great Daedalus of Athens was the man [plan;
That made the draught, and formed the wondroaf
Where rooms, within themselves encircled lie,
With various windings to deceive the eye.
As soft Maeander's wanton current plays,
When through the Phrygian fields he loosely strays:
r
B*k •• OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 117
Backward and forward roib the dimpled tide,
Seeming, at once, two different ways to glide ;
While eirdiiig stream*- tbek former banks survey,
And waters past succeeding waters see :
Mow tooting to the sea with dowaward coarse,
Now pointing apward to its aneieot source*
Such was the work*, so intricate the piece,
That scarce the workman all its. tarns eosdd trace :
And Dsadahss was poasied-how to find
The secret ways of wfaathisnssff desigs/iL
These private walls too Minotaur incfode,
Who twice was glutted with Athenian blood:
But the third tribate asore soccessral proved,
Slew the fool monster, and tbeplagne remoVd.
When Theseus, aided by the virgin's art,
Had trae*d the gnidfing thread throogh every part,
He took tha gentle maid that set him free,
And, bound for Dins, cot the briny sea.
There, quickly doy/d, angratefbisnd unlrind,
Left his foir consort hi the isle behind.
Whom Bacchus saw, and straining in his arms
Her rifled bloom, and violated channs,
Resolves, for this, the dear engaging dame
Should shine for ever in the rolls of fame ;
And bids her crown among the stars be pme'd,
With an eternal coustauarion grae'd.
The golden circlet asounta ; and, as it flies,
Its diamonds twinkle in the distent skies:
There, in their pristine form, the gemmy rays
Between Alddes and the Dragon bssae.
THE STORY OF DiSDALUS AND ICARUS*
la tftBouf exile now too long dewin'd\
Dmdalns fanfunM** his uativtktn*;
VOL. II. I
118 OVID'S M BTAMORPHOtBi. B*k 8.
Tlie sen foreclosed hit flight : yet thus he said ;
' Though earth mud water in subjection laid,
O cruel Minos! thy dominion be,
We'll go through air; for sure the air is free/
Then to new arts his cunning thought applies,
And to improve the work of nature tries.
A row of quills, in gradual order plac'd,
Kise by degrees in length from first to last ;
As on a cliff the* ascending thicket grows,
Or different reeds the rural pipe compose :
Along the middle runs a twine of flax,
The bottom stems are join'd by pliant wax ;
Thus, well compact, a hollow bending brings
The fine composure into real wings.
His boy, young Icarus, that near him stood,
Unthinking of his fate, with smiles pursued
The floating feathers, which the moving air [there :
Bore loosely from the ground, and wafted here and
Or with the wax impertineutly play*d,
A nd with liis childish tricks the great design delay 'd.
The final master-stroke at last impos'd,
And now, the neat machine completely clos'd,
Fitting his pinions on, a flight he tries,
And hung self-balanc'd in the beaten skies.
Then thus instructs his child: * My boy, take care
To wing your course along the middle air .-
If low, the surges wet your flagging plimtes ;
If high, the sun the melting wax consumes :
Steer between both : nor to the northern skies,
Nor South Orion, turn your giddy eyes ;
But follow me. Let me before you lay
Rules for the flight, and mark the pathless wav.'
Then teaching, with a fond concern, his son,
lie took the untried wings, and nVd 'em on .-
Boek9. OTID'S METAMORPHOSES. 119
But fix'd with trembling hands; and, as he speaks,
The tears roll gently down his aged cheeks ;
Then kis^d, and in his arms embrac'd him fast,
But knew not this embrace most be the last :
And mounting upward, as he wings his flight,
Back on his charge he tarns his aching sight;
As parent birds, when first their callow care
Leave the high nest to tempt the liquid air ;
Then cheers him on, and oft, with ratal art,
Reminds the strippling to perform his part.
These, as the angler at the silent brook,
Or mountain-shepherd leaning on his crook,
Or gaping ploughman, from the vale descries,
They stare, and view 'em with religions eyes,
And straight conclude 'em gods : since none,but they,
Through their own azure skies could find a way.
Now Delos, Paros, on the left are seen,
And Samoa, favoured by Jove's haughty queen ;
Upon* the right, the isle Lebynthos nam'd,
And fair Calymne for its honey fam'd.
When now the boy, whose childish thoughts aspire
To loftier aims, and make him ramble higher ;
Grown wild and wanton, more embolden'd flies
Far from his guide, and soars among the skies :
The softening wax, that felt a nearer sun,
Dissolv'd apace, and soon began to run :
The youth in vain his melting pinions shakes,
His feathers gone, no longer air he takes.
' Oh! father, ratherl' as he strove to cry,
Down to the sea he tumbled from on high,
And found his fate : yet still subsists by Fame,
Among those waters that retain his name.
The rather, now no more a rather, cries,
' Ho, Icarus! where are you ? as he flies :
CMtpd joyM, mi ■ iBiJim — M ha iw>
The odjlnrd of ell (b kind, aa.hr
■ pity* "
MMf I
■IkMdM. S
TTIiililn'mia rtWMWrflhtMM*— IML
Vm with trie mkW an a nMm phrti
Tbe nrmpcctiog avotuer «w hi* parti,
And frnioa fitted Air the fiaeet art* i
TbU moo ■ppcu'rf; for when the anna* boa*
In fehe*' b»clu ww by tin itripling bgti,
A rare invention these* be Leara'd to draw,
Fil'd teeth in iron, and wade the patina; taw.
He in tlie lint, that from a knob of boaa
Made two rtraigbt am* with widening Mratch to
P«*"S
That while one itood upon the centre* place.
The otber round it drew a circling (pacts.
Dstitolut envied ihk ; and lions the top
Of (air Hinerta1! temple let ban drop;
Feigning, that a* be ieaa'd npon the towY,
Carelew he itoopU too macb, and tnmbead ate.
Tbe goddeu, who the* ingenloni •all beftiandt,
OnnV ~L -■■ '"J
at wilH feather*, a* be fell, aha rein,
And in tbe air a new-made bird ho aaibv
The qoicanent of hit genim, once m fleet,
Still in Hi wisp remain*, and » hjafeeu
&#•**, OVIDfKBTAMOHPHOSES. 121
Still, though transform'd, bis ancient name he keeps,
And with low flight the new-thorn stubble sweeps ;
Declines the lofty trees, -and thinks it best
To brood in hedgerows o'er its humble nest j
And, in ressembrance of the former HI,
Avoids the heights and precipices still.
At length, mtigu'd with long laborious flights,
On fair Sicilian pfains the artist lights ;
Where Cocalns the king, that gave him aid,
Was, Jbr his kindness, with esteem repaid.
Athens no more her doleful tribute sent,
That hardship s^dhmt Theseus did prevent;
Their temples bong with garlands, they adore
Each friendly god, but most Minerva's now**;
To bar, to Jove, to all, their altars smoke,
They each with victims and perfumes invoke.
Now talking isne, through every Grecian town,
Had spread, ismnortal Thesens 1 thy renown:
From bfan the neajwonring nations, in distress,
In suppliant terms implore a kind redress.
THE STORY OF MBLEACER AJID ATAIAMTA.
BY PRYDEtf.
From him the Caledonians sought relief;
Though valiant Meleagrus was their chief.
The cause a boar, who mvas/d far and near :
Of Cynthia* wrath the' avenging minister.
For CEoens, with autumnal plenty bless'd,
By gifts to heaven bis gratitude exprest*d :
CulM sheaft to Ceres ; to Lynns wine ;
To Pan and Pases, ooVd sheep and kme;
And mt of olives, to Minerva* shrine.
Beginning from the rural gods, his hand
Was liberal to the powers of high command :
L^ ^\*^
1*2 OVID't METAJIORPH0SE1. Bofcl.
Each deity in every kind was Meat'd,
Till at Diana's fane the* invidious honour eeas'd.
Wrath touches ev'n the gods ; the queen ef night,
Fir*d with disdain, and jettons of her right ;
' Unhononr'd though I am; at least,' said she,
' Not unrevengVl that impious act shall be.'
Swift as the word, she sped the boar away,
With charge on those devoted fields to prey.
No larger bnlls the' Egyptian pastures feed,
And none so large Sicilian meadows breed :
His eye-balls glare with fire sufros'd with blood ;
His neck shoots np a thickset thorny wood ;
His bristled back a trench impal'd appears,
And stands erected, like a field of spears ;
Froth fills his chaps, he sends a grunting sound,
And part be churns, and part befoams the ground.
For tusks with Indian elephants he strove,
And Jove's own thunder from his mouth be drove.
He burns the leaves ; the scorching blast invades
The tender com, and shrivels up the blades :
Or, suffering not their yellow beards to rear,
He tramples down the spikes, and intercepts the
In vain the bams expect their promis'd load, [year.
Nor barns at home, nor ricks arc heap'd abroad ;
In vain the hinds the threshing floor prepare,
And exercise their flails in empty air.
With olives evergreen the ground is strow'd,
And grapes, ungathcr'd, sited their generous blood.
Amid the fold he rages, nor the sheep
Tbeirshcpherd8,northe grooms their bulls can keep.
From fields to walls the frighted rabble run,
Nor think themselves secure within the town- ;
Till Meleagros and his chosen crew
Contemn the danger, and the praise pursue,
Book 8. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS; 123
Fair LedVs twins (in time to stars decreed)
One fought on foot, one curb'd the fiery steed :
Then issued forth tam'd Jason after these,
Who man'd the foremost ship that ssil'd the seas;
Then Tbeseus join'd with bold Pirithons came ;
A single concord in a doable name ;
The ThestUn sons, Idas who swiftly ran,
And Ceneus, once a woman, now a man:
Lryncenn, with eagle's eyes, and lion's heart;
Leorippttt, with his iiever-erring dart :
Acastus, Phiieus, Phoenix, Teuttnon,
Ecbion, Ldex, and Earytion,
Achilles' other, and great Phoctts* son ;
Dryas the fierce, and Hippasstt the strong
With twice old Ions, and Nestor then bat young.
Laertes active, and Anctsus bold ;
M opens the sage, who future things foretold
And t'other seer, yet by his wife ' unsaid.
A thontand others of immortal fame ;
Among the rest fair Atalanta came,
Grace of the woods ; a diamond buckle bound
Her vest behind, that else had nWd upon the
ground,
And show'd her buskin'd legs ; her head was bare,
But for her native ornament of hair ;
Which in a simple knot was tied above,
Sweet negligence ! unheeded bait of love !
Her sounding quiver, on her shoulder tied,
One hand a dart, and one a bow supplied.
Such was her race, as in a nymph display'd
A fair fierce boy, or in a boy betray'd
The blushing beauties of a modest maid.
» AmphUnm.
\
ruuug.
}
I
.-* ■
it 4 <r is?s mnuMnM
The GdeoVmsaa chief at once the
Beheld, at eace Ida heart ivmvU thr
With heavens averse. < O tofipy yonta/l* cant,
• For whom thy mtes reserve to firfr a bride r
He sigb'd, and had ao leisure mote to eay ; )
His honour calCd hit eyes another way, >
And forc'dlrim to pursue the MW4egtoctedprey. 1
There ltood a forest on a aissmfsin's brow,
Which overlooked the shaded plains below t
No sounding axe presnaVd those trees to bite;
Coeval with the world, a venerable eight !
The heroes there arrived ; some spread arooad j
The toil, some search the footsteps on tee*Teend;£
Some from the chains the mithftd doe* unbound.)
Of action eager, and intent in thought,
The chiefs their honourable danger sought.
A valley stood below ; the common drain
Of waters from above, and railing rain :
The bottom was a moist and marshy ground,
Whose edges were with bending osiers crownM :
The knotty bulrush next in order stood,
And all within of reeds a trembling wood.
From hence the boar was.rous'd, and sprang
amain,
like lightning sadden, on the warrior-train,
Beats down the trees before him, shakes the}
ground; f
Tlie forest echoes to the crackling sound ; r
Shout the fierce youth, and clamours ring around*)
All stood with their protended spears prepoyd,
With broad steel heads the bran&sh'dweapons ghv*d»
The beast, impetuous, with his tusks aside
Deals glancing wounds; the fearful dogs divide :
All spend their months aloof, but none abide.
\
+ — "
Bmk •» ofiB*i mmuiORnionn. l?5
Echion threw the first, but mks'd his nark,
And stack hk boar-spear en a maple's hark :
Then Jason ; and bis javelin seenVd to take,
Bat fiat d witnov*r»force,and wnkVlnbovefakback.
Mopsus was next ; but, etc he threw, address'd
To Photons thus : * O patron, help thy priest!
If I adore, and ever hare ader'd
Thy power <Ht ine, thy present aid afford ;
That I may ranch the beast'— The godsJIow'd
His prayer ; and, smiting , gave htm what he con'd :
He rtnch'd tbe savage, bat no blood he drew;
Dian unarm'd the k vein as it flew.
lUs ehnftf the hoar, bk nostrils' flames expire,
And hk red eye-balk roll with Bring fire.
Wbirfd from a stint?, or from an engine thrown,
Anrid the toes, so flies a mighty stone,
As flew the beast The left wing put to flight,
Ine chsefi o'er-bome, be rashes on the right,
Fmnthmnn and Pelngon be laid
In dost, amtnext to death, bat tor their fellows' aid.
Oneshnns far*d worst ; prepared to fly,
The fatal fang drove deep within hk thigh,
And cat the nerves: the nerves no more sustain
The balk ; the balk anprop'd, falls headlong on
theptam,
Nestor had raffld the fall of Troy to see,
But, leaning on hk knee, he vaulted on a tree ;
Then gathering up hk feet, rook'd down with fear,
And thought hk monstrous foe was still too near.
Against a stamp hk task the monster grinds,
And in the sharpenM edge new vigour finds ;
Then, trusting to hk arms, young Othrys found,
A»d ranctfd hk hips with one continued wound.
us
Now Lc4a»* twfat, to fetm atan,
White were their asMs, white their lastses were;
Conspicuous both, ead both in set to throw
Their trembling fences brandisfa'd at the fee:
Nor had they nnss'd; hot he to thickets fled,
Cooceal'd from aiimng •pears, not pervious to the
ButTelamonrmh'dio^aDdhap'dto meet [steed.
A riling root, that held his festen'd feet;
80 down he fell, whom, sprawling on the gtenad,
His brother from the wooden gyves naboond.
Meantime the virgin-hnntreas was not slow
To' expel the shaft from her contracted bow :
Beneath his ear the festen'd arrow stood,
And from the wound appear'd the trickling blood.
She blnsh'd for joy : bat MeJeagroe rabd
His voice with load applanse, and the fair archer
He was the first to see, and first to show [prawtt
His friends the mark of the successful blow.
' Nor shall thy valonr want the praises due,'
He said : a virtuous envy seht'd the crew.
They sbont ; the shooting animates their hearts,
And all at once employ their thronging darts :
But oat of order thrown, in air they join,
And multitude makes frustrate the design.
With both his bauds the prond Ancseos takes,
And flourishes, his doable-biting axe :
Then, forward to his fete, he took a stride
Before the rest, and to his fellows cried,
' Give place, and mark the difference, if yon can,
Between a woman-warrior, and a man.
The boar is doom'd ; nor though Diana lend
Her aid, Diana can her beast defend.'
Thus boasted he ; then stretch'd, on tiptoe stood,
Secure to make bis empty promise good.
Book 8. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 127
But the more wary beast prevents the blow,
And upward rips the groin of his audacious foe.
Ancaeus falls ; his bowels from the wound
Rush out, and clotted blood distains the ground.
Pirithotis, no small portion of the war,
Press'd on, and shook his lance : to whom from far
Thus Theseus ciied : * O stay, my better part,
My more than mistress ; of my heart, the heart.
The strong may fight aloof; Ancaeus tried
His force too near, and by presuming died :'
He said, and while he spake his javelin threw ;
Hissing in air the' unerring weapon flew ;
But on au arm of oak, that stood betwixt
The marksman and the mark, his lance he fix'd.
Once more bold Jason threw,btit taU*d to wound )
The boar, and slew an undeserving hound, >
And through the dog the dart was nail'd to ground. )
Two spears from Meleager's hand were sent,
With equal force, hut various in the' event :
The first was nVd in earth ; the second stood
On the boar's bristled back, and deeply drank his
blood.
Now while the tortur'd savage tarns around,
And flings about his foam, impatient of the wound,
The wound's great author close at hand provokes
His rage, and plies him with redoubled strokes ;
Wheels as he wheels ; and with his pointed dart
Explores the nearest passage to his heart.
Quick, and more quick, he spins his giddy gyres,
Then falls, and in much foam his soul expires.
This act with shouts, heaven-nigh, the friendly band
Applaud ; and strain in theirs the victor's hand.
Then all approach the slain with vast surprise,
Admire on what a breadth of earth he liesi
It8 OfiaVi MCTA1
And, team secure, reach oat —— ^^m. m,
And blood their paints to pro** their psrtaeneia
of war.
But be, the conquering chief, his (hot nttweaftt
On the strong Deck of tbmt destructive beast;
And, gating on the nynipk with ardent eyes,
' Accept,' said he, ' fair Nonacrine I my prbej
And, though inferior, softer me to join
My labours, and my part of praise, with thine.'
At this, presents her with the tntky head,
And chine, with ruing bristles roughly spread.
Glad she receiv'd the gift; andseem'd to take
With double pleasure, for the giver's soke.
The rest were seu*d with sellen discontent,
And a deaf nmrmnr through the squadron went:
All envied; but the Tbestyao brethren show'd
The least respect, and thus they Teat their spteee
aloud:
* Lay down those honour'd spoils, nor think to share,
Weak woman as thou art, the prise of war :
Oars is the title, thine a foreign chum,
Since Meleagros from oar lineage came.
Trust not thy beauty ; but restore the prise,
Which he, besotted on that race and eyes,
Would rend from us.' At this, infiam'd with spite,
From her they snatch the gift, from him the giver*!
right.
But soon the' impatient prince his falchion drew,
And cried, ' Ye robbers of another's due,
Now learn the difference, at your proper cost,
Betwixt true valour and an empty boast.
At this advane'd, and sudden as the word,
In proud Plexippus' bosom plungVi the sword :
Book 8. ovid's metamorphoses. 129
Toxeus amaz'd, and witli amazement slow,
Or to revenge or ward the coming blow
Stood doubting; and, while doubting thus he stood,
Receivd the steel hath'd in his brother's blood,
Pleas'd with the first, nnknown the second news,
Althaea to the temples pays their does
For her son's conquest ; when at length appear
Her grisly brethren stretch'd upon the bier ;
Pale at the sudden sight, she chang'd her cheer,
And with her cheer her robes ; but hearing tell
The cause, the manner, and by whom they fell,
'Twas grief no more, or grief and rage were one
Within her soul*, at last 'twas rage alone j
Which, burning upwards in succession, dries
The tears that stood considering in her eyes.
There lay a log uulighted on the hearth,
When she was labouring in the throws of birth
For the* unborn chief: the fatal Sisters came,
And rais'd it up, and toss'd it on the flame :
Then on the rock a scanty measure place
Of vital flax, and turn'd the wheel apace ;
And turning sung, ' to this red brand and thee,
O new-born babe ( we give an equal destiny j*
So vanish'd out of view. The frighted dame
Sprung hasty from her bed, and quench'd the flame.
The log in secret lock'd, she kept with care ;
And that, while thus preserv'd, preserv'd her heir.
This branch she now produc'd ; and first she strows
The hearth with heaps of chips, and after blows }
Thrice heav'd her hand ; and heav'd, she thrice }
repress'd : ^
The sister and the mother long contest, 4
Two doubtful titles, in one tender breast. j
mil, }
theg»le,£
150 OYID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bilk S.
And now her eyes aad cheeks wjafc nwy glow,
Now pale her cheeks, her eyes with pity flow;
Now louring looks presage approaching storms,
And bow prevailing love her sace reforms.
Resolv'd she doubts again ; the tears she dried
With burning rage, are by aew tears supplied
Aad as a ship, which winds aad waves assail.
Now with the current drives, now with the
Both opposite, aad neither long prevail
8he feels a doable force, by tarns obeys
The* imperious tempest, and the* impetuous seas :
So fares Althaea's mind, she first relents
With pity, of that pity then repents;
Sister and mother long the scales divide,
Bat the beam nodded on the sister's side.
Sometimes she softly sigh'd, then roar'd aloud ;
Bot sighs were stifled in the cries of blood.
The pious, impious wretch, at length decreed —
To please her brother's ghost, her son should bleed :
And when the funeral flames began to rise,
' Receive/ she said, ' a sister's sacrifice ;
A mother's bowels burn.' High in her hand,
Thus while she spoke, she held the fatal brand ;
Then thrice before the kindled pile she bow'd,
And the three Furies thrice invok'd aloud :
' Come, come, revenging Sisters, come, and view
A sister paying her dead brother's due :
A crime I punish, and a crime commit ;
But blood for blood, and death for death is fit :
Great crimes must be with greater crimes repaid,
And second funerals on the former laid.
Let the whole household in one ruin fall,
And may Diana's curse o'ertake us all.
Book 8. ovid's metamorphoses. 131
Shall fate to happy (Eneus still allow
One son, while Thestius stands depriv'd of two ? |
Better three lost than one unpunished go.
Take then, dear ghosts, (while yet admitted new
In hell yon wait my duty) take your due:
A costly offering on your tomb is laid,
When with my blood 'the price of yours is paid.
'Ah? whither am I hurried ? Ah! forgive,
Ye shades, and let your sister's issue live :
A mother cannot give him death ; though he
Deserves it, he deserves it not from me.
'Then shall the* unpunish'd wretch insult the
slain,
Triumphant live, nor only live, but reign ;
While you, thin shades, the sport of winds, are toss'd
O'er dreary plains, or tread the burning coast.
I cannot, cannot bear! 'tis past, 'tis done ;
'Perish this impious, this detested son :
Perish his sire, and perish I withal (
And let the house's heir and the hop'd kingdom fall !
* Where is the mother fled, her pious love,
And where t he pains with which ten months I Strove !
Ah ! hadst thou died, my sou, in infant years,
Thy little hearse had been bedew'd with tears.
' Thou liv'st by me ; to me thy breath resign ;
Mine is the merit, the demerit thine.
Thy life by double title I require ;
Once given at birth, and once preserved from fire :
One murder pay, or add one murder more,
And me to them, who fell by thee, restore.
' I would but cannot : my son's image stands
Before my sight ; and now their angry hands
My brothers hold, and vengeance these exact j
This pleads compassion, and repents the fact.
^o^*-!
199 <mrt ■■Tiwiwifini, Bmk%
' He pleads in vans, and I pwiHww Mi dnoan
My brothers, though unjustly, shall rtwot
Bat, having paid their injmrtl ghat* iMr 4m,
My sod requires my death, and nine shell Hi par-
sue.
At this, for the last time, she Ufa her hand,
Averts hereyes, ami, half imwUh^ drops the brand.
The brand, amid the flaming fad thrown,
Or drew, or seem'd to draw, a dying groan;
The fires themselves bat faintly liek'd their prey,
Then loath'd tfoeir impious food, tad would have
shrank away.
Jost then the hero cast a doleful cry,
And in those absent flames began to fry :
The blind contagion ras/d within his veins ;
But he with manly patience bore his pains :
He fear'd not fate, bat only griev'd to die
Without an honest wound, and by a death so dry.
' Happy Ancaens ! (thrice aloud he cried)
With what becoming fete in arms he died !*
Then calPd his brothers, sisters, sire, around,
And her to whom his nuptial vows were bound,
Perhaps his mother ; a long sigh he drew,
And his voice failing, took his last adieu I
For as the flames augment, and as they stay
At their full height, then languish to decay,
They rise and sink by fits ; at last they soar
In one bright blaze, and then descend no more :
Just so his inward heats, at height impair, [air.
Till the last burning breath shoots out the soul m
Now lofty Calidon in ruins lies ; }
All ages, all degrees, unslnice their eyes, (^
And heaven and earth resonnd with murmurs,!
groans, and cries. J
Book*, ovjb/b MCTAvoftrabra, 133
Matrons and maidens beat their breasts and tear
Their lmbta, and root op their aoattef*d bab :
The wretched fittber, fyfcer now no mere,
With sorrow sank, Het affustnafte* tae.i6ot;
Deforms bis hoary locks with daatojaaosaaV
And canes age, and maths a ttfe prilaaa/dwitn
By steel her stabborn soul Jlis nmther freed, [pain.
And punish'd on herself her impious deed.
Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so lawgjet
As could their hundred ofiues discbarge;
Had Phoebus all his HeKeott bestow1*
In all the streams, inspiring aH the god; - [Tarn
Those tongue*, that wit, those stieainstthatgod9in
Would offer to describe his sisters* pain:
They beat their breasts with maw/ a bruising blow'
Till they turn livid and corrupt the snow:
The corps they cberhh, while the corps reeatins,
And exercise and rib with fruitless pains; »■
And when to funeral flames 'tis home away,
They kirn the bed on which the bad/ my:
And when those funeral flames a* longer burn,
(The dust compos'd within a pfoff in) "
Ev'n in that urn their brother they ej>etms,
And hug it in their arms, and to their bosoms press.
His tomb is rais'd; then, stretch'd along the
ground,
Those living monuments his tomb sm round :
Ev'n to bis name, iuscrib'd, their team tbe>pey, '
Till tears and kisses wear his name away.
. But Cynthia now bad all her fury spent,
Not with less ruin than a race contents
Excepting Gorgfe, perish'd all the seed,
And her ' whom Heaven fbr Hercules decreed.
VOL, II. K •
154 OVID'S METAMORMUMM. B—k &
Satiate at last, no longer she panned
'Die weeping sifters ; but with wings endued*
And horny beaks, and sent to flit in air, - [pair.
They yearly round the tomb in featner*d flocks re-
THK TRAM 9 FORMATION OF THE MAI ADS.
BY VEKNOy.
Theseus, meanwhile, acquitting well his share
In the bold chase, confederate like a war,
To Athens' lofty towers his march ordain'd,
By Pallas lov'd, and where Erectheus reign'd.
Bat Acheloiis stop'd him on the way,
By rains a deluge, and constraint his stay.
' O fam'd for glorious deeds, and great by blood,
Rest here,' says be, ' nor trust the rapid flood :
It solid oaks has from its margin tore,
And rocky fragments down its current bore ;
The murmur hoarse, and terrible the roar.
Oft have I seen herds with their sheltering Ibid
Forc'd from the banks, and in the torrent rolPd ;
Nor strength the bulky steer from ruin freed,
Nor matchless swiftness sav'd the racing steed.
In cataracts when the dissolving snow
Falls from the hills, and floods the plains below ;
Toss'd by the eddies with a giddy round,
Strong youths are in the sucking whirlpools drown'd.
Tis best with me in safety to abide,
Till usual bounds restrain the ebbing tide,
And the low waters in their channel glide.
Theseus, persuaded, in compliance bow'd ;
' So kind an offer, and advice so good,
O Acheloiis ! cannot be refus'd ;
I'll use them both,' said he;— and both he us'd.
\
The p»t l» aitert, pttte Mb Ike Wl»
Aiidto^ms^ the rustic of. the wall;
The floor, soft moss, an humid carpet spread,
And ▼axiom shells the cheqoer'd roof mfesi.
Twas now the hour when the declismigsmi
Tiro thirds had of his idly Jotnay nm*
At the spread tabteThcicns teefcm^aaiee;
Next hit eoapamoiw in the daring chase;
Piritbous here, there elder Lelex lay, '
His locks betraying age with sprinkled grey*
AcharmVs rlver^goti disposM the rdsV
Grac'dwhh the equal aotuvr of the matt, * -
Elate with joy, and proud of sack: a gnest.
The nymphs were waiters, and with naked feet
In order sertM the courses of tin? meat;
The banquet done, deHckms wine they brought;
Or' one timsmarent gem the cnp wm wrought.
Then the great hero of this gattant tmte,
SaryeyiBgrmrtbe<pt«a|^ctef thenwin; .
* ^OiatUtbathwd/s^^/tkfrfraveseis^raee?
(And with his finger pointed** the pmce;)
Is it one parted isle waidr stands alone?
How nanVd ? and yet methhska it seems- not one.'
To whom the watery god made thai reply:
* Tis not one isle, but five; distinct they lie; !
Tis distance which deceives the cheated eye.
But, that Diana's act may seem loss strange,
These once proud naiads were, before their change.
Twas on a day more solemn thad the rest,
Ten bullocks slain, a sacrificial feast :
The rural gods of all the region near .
They bid to dance, and taste the hahWd cheer,
Me they forgot: affronted with the slight,
My rage and stream swell'd to the greatest height ;
156 OVID'S METAMOftPHOtE*. BtfftC
And with the torrent of my flooding store,
Large woods from woods, and fields from fiel
tore.
The girilty nymphs, oh! then, remembering mi
I, with their country, washM into tlie sea ;
And joining waters with the social main,
Rent the cross land, and split the firm champs
Since, the Echinades, remote from shore,
Are view'd as many isles, as nymphs before.'
PERIMELE TURNED INTO AN ISLAND.
' But yonder far, lo! yonder does appear
An isle, a part to roe for ever dear j
From that (it sailors Perimele name)
I, doting, forc'd by rape a virgin's fame.
Hippodamas's passion grew so strong,
Gall'd with the* abuse, and fretted at the wroi
He cast his pregnant daughter from a rock;
I spread my waves beneath, and broke the sto
And as her swimming weight my stream conve
I sued for help divine, and thus I pray'd :
" O powerful Thou ! whose trident does comn
The realm of waters which surround the land
We sacred rivers, wheresoever begun,
End in thy lot, and to thy empire run.
With favour hear, and help with present aid ;
Her whom I bear 'twas guilty I betray'd.
Yet if her father had been just or mild,
He would have been less impious to his child
In her, have pitied force in the abuse ;
In me, admitted love for my excuse.
O let relief for her hard case be found,
Her, whom paternal rage expell'd from groin*
Her, whom paternal rage relentless drown'd.
UOQk 8. OYID'S MITAMOEJIIOifiS. 137
Grant her some place, or change her to a place
Which 1 may ever clasp with my embrace."
* His nodding heed the sea's great rater beat,
And all his waters shook with his assent [trest'd,
The nymph still swam, though with the flight dis-
I felt her heart leap trembling in her breast ;
Hat hardening soon, whilst I her pulse explore,
A crusting earth cas'd her stiff body o'er;
And as accretions of new-cleaving soil
Enlarged the mass, the nymph became as isle*'
THE STORY OF BAUCIS AND PHILEMON.
BY DRVDEN.
Thus Acbelous ends : — his audience hear
With admiration, and admiring fear
The powers of heeVn; except boon's sea,
Who laugh'd at all the gods, believ'd is none :
He shook his impious bead, and that replies j—
' These legends are no more than pious Kes :
Yon attribute too much to heavenly sway,
To think they give us forms, and take away.'
The rest, of better minds, their sense dedarYl
Against this doctrine, and with horror heard.
Then Lelex rose, an old experiene'd man,
And thus with sober gravity began :
* Heaven^ pow*r is infinite : earth, air, and sea*
The manufacture mass, the making power obey :
By proof to clear your doubt : in Phrygian ground
Two neighbouring trees, with walls encompassed
round,
Stand on a moderate rise, with wonder shown,
One a hard oak, a softer linden one :
I saw the place, and them, by Pittbeus sent
To Phrygian realms, my grandsire's government*
138 OVID'S METAMORPHOSE** Jtak8.
Not far from thence is seen a lake, the bannt
Of coots, and of toe fishing cormorant :
Here Jove with Hermes came ; bat in disguise
Of mortal men conceal'd their deities :
One laid aside his thunder, one his rod ;
And many toilsome steps together trod ;
For harbour at a thousand doors they knock 'd,
Not one of all the thousand but was lock'd.
At last an hospitable house they found,
A homely shed ; the roof, not far from ground,
Was thatch'd with reeds and straw, together
bound.
There Baucis and Philemon liv'd, and there
Had liv'd long married, and a happy pair :
Now old in love, though little was their store,
Inur'd to want, their poverty they bore,
Nor aim'd at wealth, professing to be poor.
For master or for servant here to call,
Was all alike, where only two were all.
Command was none, where equal love was paid ;
Or rather, both commanded, both obey'd.
■* From lofty roofs the gods repuls'd before,
Now atooping, entered through the little door :
The man (their hearty welcome first express'd)
A common settle drew for either guest,
Inviting each his weary limbs to rest.
But ere they sat, officious Baucis lays
Two cushions stufPd with straw, the seat to raise ;
Coarse, but the best she had ; then rakes the load
Of ashes from the hearth, and spreads abroad
The living coals ; and, lest they should expire,
With leaves and bark she feeds her infant fire :
It smokes ; and then with trembling breath she
Till in a cheerful blaze the flames arose, [blows,
ifoft B; OVIO*B VSTAHORraOMl. 159
With- brushwood and with chips she strengthens
these ;
And adds, at last, the toughs of rattan wees.
The fire thus form'd, she sets the kettle any
(Like burnish d gold the little seether steal)
Next took the coleworts which her husband got
From his own ground, a small weB-weter1^ spot ;
She stripped the stalks of all their leares; the
best • *■
She cull'd, and them with bandy care she dtaWd.
High o'er the hearth a chine of bacon hong ;
Good old Philemon seiaM it with a proag;
And froin the sooty rafter drew it down,
Then cut a slice, but scare* enough for one;
Yet a large portion of a little store,
Which for their sakes alone he wish>d were mare.
This in the pot he pran^d without delay,
To tame the flesh, and drain1 the salt away.
The time between, before the fire they sat,
And shortened the delay by pteama; chat1
' A beam there was, on which a beechen nail
Hung by the handle, on a dri? en nail :
This fiU'd with water, gently warm'd,* they set }
Before their guest* ; in this they banYd their feet, >
And after with clean towels dried their sweat. )
This done, the host produced the genial bed,
Sallow the feet, the borders, and the sted,
Which with no costly coverlet they spread,
Bnt coarse old garments ; yet such robes- as these
They laid alone at feasts on holidays.
The good old housewife, tucking up her gown,
The table sets ; th* invited gods lie down.
The trivet-table of a foot was lame,
A blot which prudent Baucis overcame,
;i
140 OVID*» MKTAMOBFBOMt. Bftffc t.
Who thrusts beneath the limping leg a sherd;
So was the mended board exactly rear*d :
Then rnbb'd it o'er with newly-gather'd mint,
A wholesome herb, that breath'd a grateful scent.
Pallas began the feast, where first was seen
The party-colonr'd olive, black and green :
Autumnal cornels next in order serv'd,
In lees of wine well pickled and preserr 'd.
A garden salad was the third supply,
Of endive, radishes, and succory :
Then curds and cream, the flower of country fere, )
And new-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy care >
Turn'd by a gentle fire, and roasted rare. 3
All these in earthenware were senr'd to board
And next in place, an earthen pitcher storti,
With liqnor of the best the cottage could afford.
This was the table's ornament and pride;
With figures wrought ; like pages at his side,
Stood beechen bowls; and these were shining clean,
Varnish'd with wax without, and lin'd within.
By this the boiling kettle had prepared,
And to the table sent, the smoking lard ;
On which with eager appetite they dine,
A savory bit, that serv'd to relish wine :
The wine itself was suiting to the rest,
Still working in the must, and lately press'd.
The second course succeeds, like that before,
Plums, apples, nuts, and of their wintry store
Dry figs, and grapes, and wrinkled dates were set
In canisters, t' enlarge the little treat :
All these a milk-white honeycomb surround,
Which in the midst the country banquet crown' d :
But the kind hosts their entertainment grace
With hearty welcome, and an open face.
BsO* 8. OVID'S METAKOJtPBOMI. 141
In all tbey did yon might discern with ease
A willing mind, and a desire to please.
Meaatinte the beecben bowls went round, and still,
Though often emptied, were observ'dto fill ;
Fiird without hands, and of their own accord
Rao without feet, and danc'd about the board;
Devotion seisM the pair, to see the feast
With wine, and of no common grape, inereas'd ;
And np tliey held their hands, and fell to pray*r,
Excusing, as they could, their country fare.
One goose tbey bad, ('twas all tbey could allow) 1
A wakeful sentry, and on duty now, >
Whom to the gods for sacrifice tbey vow : )
Her with malicious seal the couple view*d ;
She ran for life, and limping tbey pursued :
Fall weU the fowl percerv'd their bad intent,
And would not make her master's compliment;
But, persecuted, to the powers she flies,
And close between the legs of Jot* she lies :
He with a gracious ear the suppliant beard,
And sav'd her life -, then what be was declared,
And own'd the god. " The neighbourhood," said be,
" Shall justly perish for impiety:
You stand alone exempted ; but obey
With speed, and follow where we lead the way :
Leave these accurs'd ; and to the mountain's height
Ascend, nor once look backward in your flight."
' They haste, and what their tardy feet denied,
The trusty staff (their better leg) supplied*
An arrow's flight they wanted to the top, -
And there secure, but spent with travel, stop;
Then turn their now no more forbidden eye&i
Lost in a lake the floated level lies j
14? Ovid's metamorphose*. Books.
A watry desert covers all the plains,
Their cot alone, as in an isle, remain*.
Wondering, with weeping eyes, while they deplore
Their neighbours' fate, and country now no more,
Their little shed, scarce large enough for two,
Seems, from the ground increased, in height and
bulk to grow. »
A stately temple shoots within the skies,
The crotches of their cot in columns rise ;
The pavement polish'd marble they behold,
The gates with sculpture grac'd, the spires and tiles
of sold.
* Then thus the sire of gods, with looks serene :
"Speak thy desire, thou only jnst of men!
And thou, O woman ! only worthy found
To be with such a man in marriage bound."
' Awhile they whisper; then, to Jove address'd,
Philemon thus prefers their joint request :
" We crave to serve before your sacred shrine,
And offer at your altar rites divine:
And since not any action of our life -
Has been polluted with domestic strife,
We beg one hour of death, that neither she
With widow's tears may live to bury me,
Nor weeping I, with wither' d arms, may bear
My breathless Baucis to the sepulchre." [race
* The godheads sign their suit. They ran their
In the same tenour all the* appointed space :
Then, when their hour was come, while they re-
late
These past adventures at the temple gate,
Old Baucis is by old Philemon seen
Sprouting with sodden leaves of sprightly green :
Book tf. 0TID*s METAttOiraOMS; 143
Old Baucis look'd where old Philemon stood,
And saw his lengthen'd arms a sprouting wood :
New roots their fasten'd feet begin to ted,
Their bodies stiffen in a rising rind ;
Then, ere the bark above their shoulders grew,
They give and take, at once their last adieu.
At once, " farewell, O faithful spouse !* they said ;
At once the' incroaching rinds their dosing lips
Ev'n yet, an ancient Tyans&an shows (invade.
A spreading oak, that near a linden grows;
The neighbourhood confirm the prodigy,
Grave men, not vain of tongoe, or like to lie.
I saw myself the garlands on their boughs,
And tablets hung for gifts of granted vows ;
And offering fresher up, with pious pray*r, }
" The good,* said I, " are God's peculiar -care, f
And such as honour heav*n, shall heavenly honour C
share".' ' J
CONTINUED BY VERNON,
THB CHANGES OF P|tOTBl>S.
He ceas'd in his relation to proceed,
Whilst all admir'd the author, and the deed ;
But Theseus most, inquisitive to know
From gods what wondrous alterations grow.
Whom thus the Calydonian stream addressM,
Rais'd high to speak, the conch bis elbovr press'd :
« Some, when transform'd, fix in the lasting change ;
Some, with more right,through various figures range.
Proteus, thus large thy privilege was founds
Tljou inmate of the seas, which earth surround.
Sometimes a blooming youth yon gractt the shore;
Oft a fierce lion, or a furious boar :
144 OVID'S MCTAmftMNM. . jNtVfc
With glistering spires bow seeaVd an raising snake,
The bold would tremble in his heads to tike:
With horns esj«nvd a boil; sometimes yon prpv'd
A tree by roots, a stone by weight unasovVI :
Sometimes two wavering contraries became,
Flow*d down in water, or aspir*d in flame.
THK STORY OP BRISICHTUON.
In virions shapes tons to deceive the eyes,
Without a settled stint of her disguise,
Rash Erisichthon's daughter bad the pow'r,
And brought it to Autolycus in dowY.
Her atheist sire the slighted gods defied,
And ritual honours to their shrines denied.
As fame reports, bis hand an ax sustained,
Which Ceres' consecrated grove pronWd ;
Which dorst the venerable gloom invade,
And violate with light the awful shade.
An ancient oak in the dark centre stood,
The coverfs glory, and itself a wood :
Garlands embrac'd its shaft, and from the boughs
Hung tablets, monuments of prosperous vows.
In the cool dusk its unpierc'd verdure spread,
The Dryads oft their hallow'd dances led ;
fend oft, when round their guaging arms they cast,
Full fifteen ells it measured in the waist ;
In height all under-standards did surpass,
As they aspired above the humbler grass.
These motives, which would gentler minds restrain,
Could not make Triope's bold son abstain :
He sternly cbarg'd his slaves, with strict decree,
To fell with gashing steel the sacred tree.
But whilst they, lingering, his commands delay'd,
He snatch'd an ax, and thus blaspheming said :
Book 8. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 145
1 Was this no oak, nor Ceres* favourite care,
Rut Ceres' self, this arm, unaw'd, should dare
Its leafy honours in the dust to spread,
And level with the earth its airy head.'
He spoke, and as be pois'd a slanting stroke,
Sighs heav'd, and tremblings shook the frighted oak ;
Its leaves look'd sickly, pale its acorns grew,
And its lone branches sweat a chilly dew :
But when his impious hand a wound bestowed,
Blood from the mangled bark in currents flow'd.
When a devoted bull of mighty size,
A sinning nation's grand atonement dies ;
With such a plenty from the spouting veins,
A crimson stream the turfy altars stains.
The wonder all amas/d ; yet one more bold,
Hie fact dissuading, strove bis ax to hold.
But the Thessalian, obstinately bent,
Too proud to change, too hardened to repent,
On his kind monitor bis eyes, which burn'd
With rage, and with bis eyes his weapon turn'd;
' Take the reward,' says be, * of pious dread :*
Then with a blow lop'd off bis-parted head.
No longer check'd, the wretch his crime pursued,
Doubled his strokes, and sacrilege renew'd j
When from the groaning trunk a voice was i
' A Dryad I, by Ceres' love prefer'd,
Within the circle of this clasping rind
Coeval grew, and now in ruin join'd ;
But instant vengeance shall thy sin pursue,
And death is cheer'd with this prophetic view.'
At last the oak with cords enfbrc'd to bow,
Strain'dfrom the top, andsap'd with wounds below,
The humbler wood, partaker of its fate,
Crush'd with its fall, and shiver'd with its weight.
i • r. '
• *
146 ovufr *********** MWL
The grove destroy'*, the attar Dryads i»saa,
Grief'd at iU kMft, mm! frigkted «t Hkit <ma ;
Straight, suppliants for itwy, to Ceres go,
In sable weeds, expressive of their woe*
TltebeanteousgoddeMwimagracerulair
Bow'd in consent, and nodded to their pnrrT.
The awful motion shook the fruitful ground,
And wav*d the fields with golden harvests crowa'd.
Soon she eontriv'd in her projecting nsind
A plague severe, and piteous in Ha kind
(If plagues for crimes of soeh presumptuous height
Could pity in the softest breast create),
With pinching want, and hunger's keenest smart,
To tear Ids vitals, and corrode his heart.
But since her near approach by fate's denied
To Famine, and broad dimes their powers divide,
A nymph, the mountain's ranger, she addreas'd,
And, thus resolv'd, her high comnamds'expiesrtt:
THE DESCRIPTION OF FAMINE.
' Where frozen Scytbia's utmost boand
A desert lies, a melancholy waste :
In yellow crops there nature never amtf'd,
No fruitful tree to shade the barren wild.
There sluggish cold its icy station makes.
There paleness, frights, and aguish trembling
Of pining Famine this the fated seat, [shakes.'
To whom my orders in these words repeat :
Bid her this miscreant with her sharpest pains
Chastise, and sheathe herself into his veins ;
Be unsubdued by plenty's baffled store,
Reject my empire, and defeat my pow'r :
And lest the distance, and the tedious way,
Should with the toil end long fatipue dismay,
BookS. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 117
Asceiid my chariot, and, convey'd on high,
Guide the reiu'd dragons through the parting sky.'
The nymph, accepting of the granted car,
Sprung to the seat, and posted through the air;.
Nor stop'd till she to a bleak mountain came
Of wondrous height, and Caucasus its name ;
There in a stony field the fiend she found, [ground.
Herbs gnawing, and roots scratching from the
Her elf-lock hair in matted tresses grew, }
Sunk were her eyes, and pale her ghastly hue, >
Wan were her lips, and foul with clammy glue. )
Her throat was fur'd, her guts appear'd within
With snaky crawlings through her parchment skin s
Her jutting hips seem'd starting from their place,
And for a belly was a belly's space.
Her dugs hung dangling from her craggy spine,
Loose to her breast, and fasten'd to her chine.
Her joints protuberant by leanness grown,
Consumption sunk the flesh, and rais'd the bone.
Her kuees' large orbits bunch'd to monstrous size,
And ancles to undue proportion rise.
This plague the nymph, not daring to draw near,
At distance hail'd, and greeted from afar :
And though she told her charge without delay,
Though her arrival late, and short her stay,
She felt keen Famine, or she seem'd to feel,
Invade her blood, and on her vitals steal.
She turn'd from the infection to remove,
And back to Thessaly the serpents drove.
The fiend obey'd the goddess's command,
(Though their effects in opposition stand)
She cut her way, supported by the wind,
And reach'd the mansion by the nympb assign'd!
148 onsfr
Twas night, when entering- Matasttanft new,
Dissolv'd in sleep, and thoayjafless of his dw,
She cksp»d his limbs, by impioas labour tifd,
With bettish wing*, hot her whole teifintpM;
Breath'd on hit throat nod chest a tainting Wtst,
And in his veins infus*d an endless last
The task dispatch'd, away the fury flies'
From plenteous regions, and from ripening sfciei ;
To her old barren north she wings her speed,
And cottages dfotressVl with pinching need.
Still slumbers Eri*khttion*B senses drown,
And soothe his fancy with their softest down.
He dreams of viands delicate to eat,
And revels on imaginary meat
Chaws with his- working month, but chaws in vsia,
And tires his grinding teeth with fruitless pain;
Delndes his throat with visionary fere,
Feasts on the wind, and hanqneta on Am air.
The morning came, the night and slumbers psrt,
But still the furious pangs of hanger last ;
The cankeroos rage still gnaws with griping pains,
Stings in his throat, and in his bowels reigns.
Straight he requires, impatient in demand,
Provisions from the air, the seas, the land.
Bat though the land, air, seas, provisions grant,
Starves at full tables, and complains of want
What to a people might in dole be paid,
Or victual cities for a long blockade,
Could not one wolfish appetite assuage ;
For glutting nourishment increas'd its rage.
As rivers pour*d from every distant shore
SIm sea insatiate drinks, and thirsts for more ;
r as the fire which all materials burns,
And wasted forests into ashes turns,
Book 8. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
149
Grows more voracious, as the more it preys ;
Recruits dilate the flame, and spread the blaze :
So impious Erisichthou's hunger raves,
Receives refreshments, and refreshments craves.
Food raises a desire for food, and meat
Is but a new provocative to eat.
He grows more empty, as the more supplied,
And endless cramming but extends the void.
THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF ERISICHTHOU'S
DAUGHTER.
Now riches hoarded by paternal care
Were sunk, the glutton swallowing up the heir;
Yet the devouring flame no stores abate,
Nor less the hunger grew with his estate.
One daughter left, as left his keen desire,
A daughter worthy of a better sire j
Her too he sold, spent nature to sustain ;
She vcorrfd a lord with generous disdain,
And, flying, spread her hands upon the main.
Then pray'd; * Grant, thou ? I bondage may escape,
And with my liberty reward thy rape :
Repay my virgin treasure with thy aid.' [maid).
(Twas Neptune who deflowered the beauteous
The god was mov'd at what the fair had au'd;
When she so lately by her master view'd
In her known figure, on a sudden took
A fisher's habit, and a manly look :
To whom her owner hasted to inquire ; [wire ;
* O thou !* said he, * whose baits hide treacherous
Whose art can manage and experience skill
The taper angle, and the bobbing quill,
So may the sea be ruffled with no storm,
But smooth with calms, as you the truth inform
vet. ii. h
\
150 oru>t mbtam owaous. Jtifk.1.
So your deceit may no thy fishes feel,
Till struck and fasten'd on the bearded steely
Did not yon standing view upon the strand
A wandering maid ? I'm sore I saw her Jtand ;
Her hair disordered, and her homely dress
Betray'd her want, and witnessed her distress.'
' Me heedless,' she replied, ' whoe'er yon are,
Excuse, attentive to another care.
I settled on the deep my steady eye ;
Fix'd on my float, and bent on my employ ;
And that you may not doubt what I impart,
So may the ocean's god assist my art,
If on the beach since I my sport pursued,
Or man, or woman, bnt myself I viewed.'
Back o'er the sands, deluded, he withdrew ;
Whilst she for her old form put off her new.
Her sire her shifting power to change perceiv'd,
And various chapmen by her sale deceived :
A fowl with spangled plumes, a blinded steer,
Sometimes a crested mare, or antler'd deer.
Sold for a price, she parted, to maintain
Her starving parent with dishonest gain.
At last all means, as all provisions, fail'd :
For the disease by remedies prevail'd $
His muscles with a furious bite he tore,
Gorg'd his own tatter'd flesh, and gulp'd his gore.
Wounds were his feast, his life to life a prey,
Supporting nature by its own decay.
But foreign stories why sliould I relate ?
I too myself can to new forms translate,
Though the variety's not unconfin'd,
But tix'd in number, and restrained in kind ;
For often I this present shape retain, #
Oft curl a snake the volumes of my train.
Book 8. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 151
Sometimes, my strength into my horns transfer^,
A boll I march, the captain of the herd*
But whilst I once those goring weapons wore,
Vast wresting force one from my forcMcad leva.
Lo, my maim'd brows the injnry still owa T '
He ceas'd ; his words eosKfodiog with a groan.
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK IX.
TRANSLATED BY DRFDEN AND OTHERS.
THE STORY OF ACHELOtiS AND HERCULES.
BT OAT.
Theseus requests the god to tell Us woes,
Whence his maim'd brow, and whence his groans
arose :
When thus the Calydonian stream replied,
With twining reeds his careless tresses tied :
' Ungrateful is the tale ; for who can bear,
When conqner'd, to rehearse the shameful war ?
Yet I'll the melancholy story trace ;
80 great a conqueror softens the disgrace :
Nor was it still so mean the prize to yield,
As great and glorious to dispute the field.
' Perhaps you've, heard of De'ianira's name,
For all the country spoke, her beauty's fame.
Long was the nymph by numerous suitors woo'd,
Each with address bis envied hopes pursued :
I join'd the loving band : to gain the fair,
Reveal'd my passion to her father's ear.
Their vaiu pretensions all the rest resign,
Alcides only strove to equal mine ;
He boasts his birth from Jove, recounts his spoils,
His step-dame's hate-subdued, and finish'd toils.
Bmk 9. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 153
' " Can mortals then/' said I, " with gods corn-
Behold a god ; mine is the watry care : [pare?
Through your wide realms I take my maiy way, '
Branch into streams, and o'er the region stray ;
No foreign guest your daughter** charms adores,
But one who rises in your native shores.
Let not his punishment your pity mote :
Is Juno's hate an argument for love ?
Though you your life from fair Atones* drew,
Jove's a feign'd father, or by fraud a true.
Choose then, confess thy mother's honour lost,
Or thy descent from Jove no longer boast9
< While thus I spoke, be look'd with stem disdain,
Nor could the sallies of his wrath restrain,
Which thus break forth:—" This arm decides our
right;
Vanquish in words, be mine the prise in fight**
c Bold he rush'd on. . My honour to maintain,
I fling my verdant garments on the plain ;
My arms stretch forth, my pliant limbs prepare,
Aud with bent hands expect the rations war.
O'er my sleek skin now gathered dust he throws,
And yellow sand his mighty muscles strows..
Oft he my neck and nimble legs assails,
He seems to grasp me, but as often mils.
Each part he now invades with eager hand ;
Safe in my bulk, immoveable I stand.
So when loud storms break? high, and foam and roar
Against some mole that stretches from the shore ;
The firm foundation lasting tempests braves,
Defies the waning winds, and driving waves. ._
' Awhile we breathe, then forward rash amain,
Renew the combat, and our ground maintain ^ . . .
154 OVIlft ttBtAMMlMfotM. B**$>
Foot strove with foot, I prone extend my breast,
Hands warwtmhsjioe^iidTOrefaesMMuielsiari
Thus have I seen two furious bulk engage,
InflamVl with equal love, and equal rage ;
Each chums the fairest heller of the grove,
And conqaest only can decide their tore:
The trembling herds surrey the fight fresn far,
Till victory decides the* important war.
Three thnes in vain he strove my joints to wrest ;
To force my hold, and throw me from me breast;
The fourth he broke my gripe, that dafep'd hfas
round,
ThenwithnewfbrcebestretchVlaMonthegrotiOd,
Close to my back the mighty burden dang,
As if a mountain o'er my limbo were fine*?.
Believe my tale ; nor do I, boastful, aiat
By feigrfd narration to extol my fame.
No sooner from his grasp I freedom get,
Unlock my arms that frowVl with trickling sweat,
But quick be seisM me, and renewed the strife,
As my exhausted bosom pants for life :
My neck he gripes, my knee to earth be strains ;
I fall, and bite the sand with shame and pains.
' O'enuatch'd in strength, to wites and arts I takf i
And slip his hold in form of speckled snake;
Who, when I wreath'd in spires my body round;
Or show'd my forky tongue with hissing sound,
Smiles at my threats : " Such Foe* my cradle knew,*
He cries, " dire snakes my infant hand o^rtftrew;
A dragon's form might other conquests gain,
To war with me yoa take that shape in vain.
Art thou proportion^ to the Hydra's length,
Who by m* wounds reedvX) augmented strength^
BtK9. ovrtfi MtftAMowtmiKm. 135
He nW ■ hnnd red hiding head* in air ;
When one I lop'd, up-sprung a dreadful pair:
By l»i! woond* fertile, and with slaughter strong,
Singly I quell'd hltn, aud sttetfch'd dead along.
What out thou do, a Form precarioua, prone,
To rciue' My rage witb terror* not thy ewnr
He Mid; and round my neck hU band* be oat,
And #itu bis straining finger* Wftbg m* ft** ;
My UtroatlK totWd, dose a* frineert cUap,
• Iu vain I strove to loo»e the forttfal ijfasp.
' Thus vanqnishM too, a third form ittll rtnnuns,
ChangM to a bull, my Wiring Gil* tUe plain*.
Straight on the left hit mttodb arms were Ann
Upon my brindled neck, an J tugg'd it it own;
Then deep be ttrftek my lioni into the rand,
And fell'd my ooJlc along the .lu-.u lend.
Nor yet hii tnry eootU; 'twixt rage and Morn,
Prom my maita'd hurt be tore the stubborn horn;
' This, neap'd with newtr* and traits, the Naiad*
Sacred to plenty, and rhc bounteous year.' [bear,
He spoke ; wM Is, a beMttoHnynMb appears,
Girt like Diana's train, with flowing bain;
The born she brings In which all edturcn't storM,
And ruddy apple* for the anenal board.
Now mora begin* to dawn ; the inn's bright fire
Gilds the high mountain*, and the youtlu retire ;
Nor stay 'd they, till the troubled stream subside,
No real wound the victor's triumph •boWd,
But hii lust honours grieV'd ths watry god ;
Yet ev'd Oat low the willow's leaves o'eMpnad,
And verdant reeds, in garbiods, Mod Ida bead.
156 waf»mnuummm^HMth-n
THB DBATH OF NStftTB TBI ClttAAli^^ '.
Tliis rirgm too, tliy love, O Xeasasl finmd, •
To her alone yon owe the filial wooad.
As the strong too of Jove ait bride conveys, •: •
Where Ills paternal lands their bulwarks raise;
Where from her alopy nrn Events ponrs
Her rapid current, swell'd by wintry show*rs.
He came. The frequent eddies vrbirfd the tide.
And the deep rolling waves all pass denied.
As for himself, he stood unmovM by leers j
For now his bridal charge empioVd his cares. .
The strong Mmb'd Nessns thos officious tried,
(For he the shallows of the stream had tried)
' Swim thou, Abides, all thy strength prepare,
On yonder bank 111 lodge thy nuptial care.'
The* Aonian chief to Nessns trusts his wife,
All pale, and trembling for her hero's lira ;
Cloth'd as he stood in the fierce lion's hide,
The laden quiver o'er his shoulder tied,
(For cross the stream his bow and club were cast)
Swift he plung'd in : * These billows stall be pass'oY
He said : nor sought where smoother waters glide,
But stem'd the rapid dangers of the tide.
The bank he reach'd ; again the bow be bears;
When, hark ! his bride's known voice alarms bis ears*.
* Nessns, to thee I call,' aloud he cries,
* Vain is thy trust in flight, be timely wise :
Thou monster double-shap'd, my right set free;
If thou no reverence owe my lame and me,
Yet kindred should thy lawless lust deny.
Think not, perfidious wretch, from me to fly,
Though wing d with horse's speed ; wounds aha
Swift as bis words the fatal arrow flew : [pursw
Hook 9. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 157
The Centaur's back admits the feather 'd wood,
And through his breast the barbed weapon stood ;
Which when, in anguish, through the flesh he tore,
From both the wounds gush'd forth the spumy gore,
Mix'd with Lernaean venom; this he took,
Nor dire revenge his dying breast forsook.
His garmeut in the reeking purple dy'd,
To rouse love's passion, he presents the bride.
THE DEATH OF HERCULES.
Now a long interval of time succeeds,
When the great son of Jove's immortal deeds,
And step-dame's hate, had fill'd earth's utmost round ;
He from CEcbalia, with new laurels crownM,
In triumph was return'd. He rites prepares,
And to the king of gods directs his pra/rs;.
When fame(who falsehood clothes in truth's disguise,
And swells her little bulk with growing lies)
Thy tender ear, O Deianira, mov'd,
That Hercules the fair Iole lov'd.
w Her love believes the tale ; the truth she fears
Of his new passion, and gives way to tears.
The flowing tears difius'd her wretched grief;
* Why seek I thus from streaming eyes relief?
■She cries, ' indulge not thus these fruitless cares,
The harlot will but triumph in thy tears :
Let something be resolv'd while yet there's time ;
My bed not conscious of a rival's crime.
In silence shall I mourn, or loud complain?
Shall I seek Calydon, or here remain?
What though, allied to Meleager's fame,
I boast the honours of a sister's name?
My wrongs, perhaps, now urge me to pursue
Some desperate deed, by which the world shall view
15ft MtMttftfc
flow Mr revenge in ^MHtuni TWju «■&'»■&>
When weltering te her Mdoortti -Mine* *jfcsV
Thus vartois passion* raft W*n*1«* W«-i;
fiheiww resolves to scikI the, »M>est;
Dy'd with Lermeaft gore, tvkto ]pbWr otykt move
His soul anew, rod route declining love.'
Nor knew she what her sudden i^DeatowB,
When she to Ly chas trusts her Moire wees ;
With soft endearments she the bey cesnmands
To bear the garment to her haiband's lands.
The' unwitting hero takes the gflfc ill bike,
And o'er his shoulders' Lertte's poison cast. -
As first the fire with fivnkmcense bestrews,
And utters to the gods his holy tow* 5
And on the marble altar's potted Mbe
Pours forth the grapy stream ; the rhanjfc fianse
Sudden (fissol? es the subtle poisonous juice.
Which taints his blood, and all his nerves bedews,
With wonted fortitude he bore the smart,
And not a groan confess'd his burning heart.
At length his patience was subdued by pain,
He rends the sacred altar from the ptaim ;
CEte's wide forests echo with bis cites !
Now to rip off the &athrul rote he tries;
Where'er he plncks the v&t, the skin he tears,
The mangled muscles and huge bones he bares,
(A ghastral sight!) or, raging with his pain,
To rend the sticking plague he tugs in Vain.
As the red iron hisses m the fiodd.
So boils the venom in his curdttng blood.
Now with the greedy flame bis entrails glow,
And livid sweats down all his body flow ;
The cracking nerves burnt up are burst tattyrlim>
The larking venom melts his swimming brafci.
/■ - -f
£#fk 9. OYlD'g MCTAMORPHOSES. 159
Then, lifting both his hands aloft, he cribs,
* Glut thy revenge, dread empress of the skies !
Sate with my death the rancour of thy heart ;
Look down with pleasure* and enjoy nrytaatt
Or, if ere pity movHI a hostile bresfct,
(For here I stand tjjy enemy protetfd)
Take hence this hateful life, with tortures torn,
Inur'd to trouble, and to labour* borau
Death is the gift most welcome to my woe,
And sach a gift a stepdame may bestow.
Was it for this Bnsiris was subdued, [blood ?
Whose barbarous temples reek'd wMh strangers'
Press'd in these arms his fate Antfeus found,
Nor gain'd recruited vigour from the ground.
Did I not tripie-fbrm'd Geryoft ftfl?
Or did I rear the triple dog of heft?
Did not these hands the ball's aitaM forehead hold ?
Are not our mighty toils in EJUs tttUt
Do not Stympbalian lakes proclann .thy feme?
And fair Parthenian woods resound thy name ?
Who sete'd the golden belt of Thermodon ?
And who the dragon-guarded apples won? [stand,
Could the fierce Centaur's strength my force with-
Or the fell boar that spofrd the* Arcadian land ?
Did not these arms the Hydra's rage subdue,
Who from his wounds to double fury grew ?
What if the Thracian horses, fat with gore,
Who human bodies in their mangers tore,
I saw, and with their barb*rous lord o'erthrew?
What if these hands Nausea's lion slew ?
Did not this neck the heavenly globe sustain?
The female partner of the Thunderer's reign,
Fatigu'd, at length suspends her harsh commands,
Yet no fatigue hath slack'd these vahaut hands.
tm ovitVs mwti
But dow new plagues pamn ant; neither ferae,
Nor iraiii nor dart*, cm atop their raging eenrag,
Devouring flame thronghjuy luckM eaftnrisi stays;
And on ny lungs and shrivel'd amectos preys ;
Yet still Eurystnens breathes the vital air.
What mortal now shall seek the gods with prayr?
THE TRANSFORM ATION OF LTCHAJ INTO A
ROCK.
The hero said; and with the torture stung,
Furious o'er CEte* lofty hills he sprang ;
Stuck with the shaft, thus scours the tiger round,
And seeks the dying author of his wound.
Now might yon see him trembling, now be vents
His anguish'd soul in groans, and loud laments >
He strives to tear the clinging vest in vain,
And with up-rooted forests strows the plain;
Now kindling into rage, his hands be rears,
And to his kindred gods directs bis prayta.
When Lycbas, lo ! he spies ; who trembling flew,
And in a hollow rock, concealed from view,
Had sbun'd his wrath. Now grief renewVi his pain,
His madness chaPd, and thus he raves again :
* Lycbas! to thee alone my fate I owe,
Who bore the gift, the cause of all my woe.'
The youth all pale with shivering fear was stung,
And vain excuses falter'd on his tongue.
Alcides snatch'd him, as with suppliant face
He strove to clasp bis knees, and beg for grace :
He toss'd him o'er his head with airy course,
And hurl'd with more than with an engine's force | -
Far o'er the' Eubcean main aloof be flies,
And hardens by degrees amid the skies.
./'
f M*?*-.
Book 9. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 161
So showery drops, when chilly tempests blow,
Thicken at first, then whiten into snow ;
In balls congeal'd the rolling fleeces bound,
In solid hail resnlt upon the ground.
Thus, whirfd with nervous force throngh distant air,
The purple tide forsook his veins with fear ;
All moisture left his limbs. Transtbrm'd to stone%
In ancient days the craggy flint was known :
Still in the* Enboean waves bis front be rears,
Still the small rock in human form appears,
And still the name of hapless Lychas bears.
\
THE APOTHEOSIS OF HEKCULES.
Bnt now the hero of immortal birth
Fells (Ete's forests on the groaning earth :
A pile he builds ; to PhUoetetes* care
He leaves his deathrul instruments of war ;
To him commits those arrows, which again
Shall see the bulwarks of the Trojan reign.
The son of Paean lights the lofty pyre,
High round the structure climbs the greedy fire ;
Plac'd on the top, thy nervous shoulders spread
With the Nemsean spoils, thy careless head*
Rais'd on the knotty club, with look divine,
Here thou, dread hero, of celestial line,
Wert stretch'd at ease ; as when a cheerful guest,
Wine crown'd thy bowls, and flowers thy temples
dress'd.
Now on all sides the potent flames aspire,
And crackle round those limbs that mock the fire.
A sudden terror seia'd the' immortal host,
Who thought the world's profess'd defender lost
This when the-Thunderer saw, with smiles he cries*
* TU from your fears, ye gods! my pleasures rise*
\6t OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. £*»* 9.
Joy swells my breast, tint my aU-mling band
O'er socb a grateful people boasts command,
That yoo my suffering progeny would aid;
Though to bis deeds this jost respect be paid,
Me you're obligU Be all yonr fears forborne.
The' CEtean fires do thou, great hero ! scorn.
Who vanqoish'd all things, shall subdue the fiasne :
That part alone of gross maternal frame
Fire shall devour; while what from me he drew
Shall live immortal, and its force subdue ;
That, when he's dead, 111 raise to realms above j
May all the powers the righteous act approve !
If any god dissent, and judge too great
The sacred honours of the heavenly seat,
Ev*n be shall own his deeds deserve the sky,
Ev'n be reluctant shall at length comply.'
The* assembled pow'rs assent. No frown till now
Had mark'd with passion vengeful Juno'* brow.
Meanwhile whate'er was in the power of flame
Was all consumed, his body's nervous frame
No more was known, of human form bereft,
The' eternal part of Jove alone was left.
As an only serpent casts Lis scaly vest,
Wreathes in the sun, iu youthful glory dress'd ;
80 when A k ides mortal mould resign'd,
His better part enlarge, and grew refin'd ;
August his visage shone : almighty Jove
In his swift car his honour'd offspring drove $
High o'er the hollow clouds the coursers fly,
And lodge the hero in the starry sky.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF GALANTHI8.
Atlas perceiv'd the load of heaven's new guest.
Revenge still rancoar'd in Earystheus' breast
\
Book & ovid's metamorphoses. 163
Against Alcides' race. Alcmena goes
To Iole, to vent maternal woes :
Here she pours forth ber grief, recounts the spoilt
Her son had bravely reap'd in glorious toils*
This Iole, by Hercules' commands,
Hyllus had lov'd, and joiu'd in nuptial bands.
Her swelling womb the teeming birth confessed,
To whom Alcmena thus her speech address'd :
* O, may the gods protect thee in that hour, [pow*r !
When, midst thy throes, thou call'st the* Ilithyiaa
May no delays prolong thy racking pain,
As when I su'd for Juno's aid in vain.
* When now Alcides* mighty birth drew nigfr,
And the tenth sign roll'd forward on the sky,
My womb extends with such a mighty load,
As Jove the parent of the burden show'd.
I conid no more the' increasing smart sustain,
My horror kindles to recount the pain ;
Cold chills my limbs while 1 the tale pursue,
And now methinks I feel my pangs anew.
Seven days and nights amidst incessant throes,
Fatigu'd with ills I lay, nor knew repose ;
When lifting high my hands, in shrieks I pray'd,
Implor'd the gods, and calf d Lucina's aid.
She came, but prejudiced, to give my rate
A sacrifice to vengeful Juno's hate.
She hears the groaning anguish of my fits,
And on the altar at my door she sits,
O'er her left knee her crossing leg she cast,
Then knits her fingers close, and wrings them fast :
This stay'd the birth ; in muttering verse she pray'd,
The muttering verse the' unfinish'd birth delay'd.
Now with fierce struggles, raging with, my pain,
At Jove's ingratitude I rave in vain.
.VT
■I *.
-v
164 oviift MCTAvo&Vriomi.' Jfiti
How did I wish for death! such groans I scat,
As might ha? e made the flinty heart relent
' Now the Cadmeian matrons round me press,
Offer their tows, and seek to bring redress;
Among the Theban dames Galantbis stands,
Strong-ltmb'd,red-hair,d, and just to my commas*:
She first perceivM that all these racking woes
From the persisting hate of Juno rose.
As here and there she pass'd, by chance she seas
The seated goddess; on her close-press'd knees
Her fast-knit bands she leans; with cheerful veto
Galanthis cries, * Whoe'er thon art, rejoice 1
Congratulate the dame, she lies at rest;
At length the gods Alcmena's womb hare Mesrift
Swift from her seat the startled goddess sprint*,
No more conceal'd, her hands abroad she flings;
The charm unloos*d, the birth my pangs refieVd;
Galanthis* laughter vex'd the power dec*rv*d*
Fame says, the goddess drag'd the laughing maid
Fast by the hair ; in vain her force essay*d
Her groveling body from the ground to rear ;
ChangM to fbre-feet her shrinking arms appear:
Her hairy back her former hue retains,
The form alone is lost ; her strength remains;
Who, since the lie did from her mouth proceed,
Shall from her pregnant mouth bring forth her bred
Nor shall she quit her long-frequented home,
But haunt those houses where she lov'd to roast!
THE FABLE OF DRYOPE.
BY POPE.
She said, and for tier lost Galantbis sighs ;
When the fair consort of her son replies :
B*0k9. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 165
1 Since you a servant's ravish'd form bemoan,
And kindly sigh for sorrows not your own,
Let me (if tears and griefs permit) relate
A nearer woe, a sister's stranger fate.
No nymph of all CEchalia could compare
For beauteous form with Dryope the fair ;
Her tender mother's only hope and pride,
(Myself the offspring of a second bride.)
This nymph, compressed by him who rales the day,
Whom Delphi and the Delian isle obey,
Andramon lov'd ; and btoss'd in all those charms
That pleased a god, succeeded to her arms.
' A lake there was, with shelving banks around,
Whose verdant summit fragrant mjyrtles crown'd.
Those shades, unknowing of the Fates, she sought ;
And to the Naiads flowery garlands brought $
Her smiling babe (a pleasing charge) she press'd
Between her arms, and nourished at her breast.
Not distant far a watry Lotos grows ;
The spring was new, and all the verdant boughs,
Adorn'd with blossoms, promia'd fruits that vie
In glowing colours with the Tyrian dye.
Of these she crop'd, to please her infant son,
And I myself the same rash act had done.
But, lo ! I saw (as near her side I stood)
The violated blossoms drop with blood ;
Upon the tree I cast a frightful look,
The trembling tree with sodden horror shook :
Lotis the nymph (if rural tales be true)
As from Priapus' lawless lust she flew,
Forsook her form ; and, fixing here, became
A flowery plant, which still preserves her name.
* This change unknown, astonish'd at the sight,
My trembling sister strove to urge the flight ;
VOL. II. M
166 OTllrt MHIMBIHIW, . fiat* 9.
Yet first the pardon of the nympbt implorf,
And thote offended sylvan powers adortl :
Bat when she backward would hare fled, she {band
Her stiffening feet were rooted to the ground :
In vain to free her fasten'd feet she strove,
And as she straggles, only moves above ;
She feels the* encroaching bark around her grow,
By slow degrees, and cover all below.
Surpris'd at tins, her trembling hand she heaves
To rend her hair; her band is filFd with leaves :
Where late was hair, the shooting leaves are seen
To rise, and shade her with a sodden green.
The child Ampbisus, to her bosom press'd,
Perceiv'd a colder and a harder breast,
And found the springs, that ne'er till then denied
Their milky moisture, on a sudden dried.
I saw, unhappy, what I now relate,
And stood the helpless witness of thy rate ;
Embrac'd thy boughs, the rising bark delay'd,
There wish'd to grow, and mingle shade with shade.
* Behold Andraemon, and the' unhappy sira
Appear, and for their Dryope inquire ;
A springing tree for Dryope they find,
And print warm kisses on the panting rind ;
Prostrate, with tears their kindred plant bedew,
And close embrac'd as to the roots they grew :
The face was all that now remain'd of thee ;
No more a woman, nor yet quite a tree :
Thy branches hung with humid pearls appear,
From every leaf distils a trickling tear ;
And straight a voice, while yet a voice remains,
Thus through the trembling boughs in sighs com-
plains.
' If to the wretched any faith be giv*n,
I swear by all the' onpitying powers of Heav'n,
,]
Book 9. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 167
No wilful crime this heavy vengeance bred,
In mutual innocence our live* we led.
If this be false, let these new greens decay,
Let sounding axes lop my limbs away, .
And crackling flames on all my honours prfy.
Now from my blanching arms this infiutf \jtjv*
Let some kind nurse supply a mother's. care;
Yet to his mother let him oft be lady
Sport in her shades, and in her shades be fed ;
Teach him, when first his infant voice shall frame
Imperfect words, and lisp his mother's name!
To hail this tree, and say with weeping eyes,
" Within this plant my hapless parent lies :*
And when in youth he seeks the shady woods,
Oh, let him fly the crystal lakes and floods,
Nor touch the fetal flowers; but, warn'd by me,
Believe a goddess shruf d in every tree.
My sire, my sister, and my spouse, farewell 1
If in your breasts or love or pity dwell, . .
Protect your plant, nor let my branches feel
The browsing cattle, or the piercing steel.
Farewell ! and since I cannot bead to- join
My lips to yours, advance at least to mine.
My son, thy mother's parting kiss receive,
While yet thy mother has a kiss to give.
I can no more, the creeping rind invades .
My closing lips, and hides my head in shades :
Remove your hands; the bark shall soon suffice, '
Without their aid, to seal these dying eyes.' ,
She ceas'd at once to speak, and ceas'd to be.;
And all the nymph was lost within the tree;!
Yet latent life through her new branches ifyfrffir *
And long the plant a human beat retain^ ^ .,.
*
-Mh
168 OVID'S METAMORFHtnS. B—k 9.
CONTINUED BTGAT.
10UUJS RESTORED TO YOUTH.
While lole the fatal change declares,
Alcmena's pitying hand oft wip'd her tears.
Grief too stream'd down her cheeks; soon sorrow
flies,
And rising joy the trickling moisture dries;
Lo, Iblaus stands before their eyes.
A youth he stood ; and the soft down began
O'er his smooth chin to spread, and promise man-
Hebe submitted to her husband's prayers,
InstuTd new vigour, and restored his years.
THE PROPHECY OF THEMIS.
Now from her lips a solemn oath bad pass'd,
That Iblaus this gift alone shotfd taste ;
Had not just Themis thus maturely said : [maid.
(Which check'd her vow, and aw*d the blooming
' Thebes is embroil'd in war. Capanens stands
Invincible, bnt by the Thunderer's hands
Ambition shall the guilty brothers ' fire,
Both rush to mutual wounds, and both expire.
The reeling earth shall ope her gloomy womb,
Where the yet breathing bard * shall find his tomb.
The son ' shall bathe hfe hands in parents' blood,
And in one act be both unjust and good.
Of home and sense deprived, where'er he flies,
The furies, and his mother's ghost he spies.
His wife the fatal bracelet shall implore,
And Phegeus stain his sword in kindred gore.
Callirhoe shall then with suppliant prayr
Prevail on Jupiter's relenting ear.
1 Eteocles and Polynices. * Amphiurana. * Alcmacui.
Bfltfc 9. OVID'S MlfAMOEPHOU*. 169
Jove shall with youth her in&nt som inspire,
And bid their bosons glow with manly fire*'
TH1 Dllitl Ot tltt OODS.
•
When Themis thot with pres<n^ voice kadspoke,
Among the gods a various asarsaur broke;
Dissension rose in each immortal breast,
That one should grant what was denied Use rest.
Aurora for her aged spouse rnsBjkins,
And Geres grieves for Jtaontfreetisnj veins;
Vulcan woald Eikttfcmhm* years renews
Her future race the eare ef Venus draws
She would Aaohiscs* bstcjajng age restores
A different eare empwy'd each heavenly pow*r:
Thus various interests did their jars increase,
Till Jove arose j be spoke* their tumults cease.
' Is any reverence to our presence giv*n?
Then why this discord mongtac powers ofneaVh?
Who can the settled will of firte snbdne ?
Twas by the Fates that Iotas* knew
A second youth. The Fates defcetnihVd doom
Shall give CalHrbbVs race a youthful bloom.
Arms nor ambition can this power obtain :
Quell your desires; eVn me the fates restrain*
Could I their will control, no tolling years
Had JEacus bent down with silver hairs :
Then Rhadamantbos stiH had yon th peasesstt,
And Minos with eternal bloom been blestfd.'
Jove's words the Synod mov*d ; the powersgive tfer.
And urge, in vain, unjust complaint no more.
Since Rhadamantfcus' veins now slowly mm/d,
And JEacus and Minos here the load;
170 ovnrt BHTAKomraftUM. Bast 9.
Minos, who, in the flower of youth md fame,
Made mighty nations tremble at hit name,
Infirm with age, the proud Miletus feaia,
Vain of bis birth, and in the strength of years ;
And now regarding all his realms as lost,
He darst not force him from bis native coast.
But you by choice, Miletus, fled his reign,
And thy swift vessel pkmgh'd the* iEgean main :
On Asiatic shores a town yon frame.
Which still is bonouril with the founder's name.
Here you Cyanee knew, the beauteous maid,
As on her father's 4 winding banks she stray'd :
Caunus and Byblis hence their lineage trace,
The double offspring of your warm embrace.
THE PASSION OF BYBLIS.
BY HARVEY-
Let the sad fate of wretched Byblis prove
A dismal warning to unlawful love.
One birth gave being to the hapless pair,
Bat more was Caunus than a sister's care ;
Unknown she lov'd, for yet the gentle fire
Rose not in flames, nor kindled to desire ;
Twas thought no sin to wonder at his charma,
Hang on his neck, and languish in his arms :
Thus wing'd with joy fled the soft hours away,
And all the fatal guilt on harmless nature lay.
But love (too soon from piety declin'd)
Insensibly deprav'd her yielding mind.
Dress'd she appears, with nicest art adorn'd,
And every youth, but her lov'd brother scorn'd ;
4 Meander.
Book 9. OVID* MCTAMOftVHOSIS. If 1
For him alone she laboorM to be firir,
And cors'd al 1 charms that might with net's compare.
Twas she, and only she, most Cannot please, -
Sick at her heart, yet knew not her dweme; :
She caU'd him lord! for brother was a name
Too cold and doll for her aspiring flame ;
And when he spoke, if sister he replied,
' For Bybhs change tint frozen wordy she cried.
Yet waking still she watchM her ftragglmf breast,
And love's approaches were in vain addressM,
Till gentle sleep an easy conquest made,
And in her soft embrace the conqueror was laid.
Botch, too soon the pleasing vision fled,
AndlehherbiDshingontB»consoios»(bed:
« Ah me P she cried, 'howmeiistremtfelseemf
Why these wild thonghts? and this incestuous
dream?
Envy herself £tis true) most own hk charms f -
Bot what is beaotym& sister's arms P «
Oh, were I not that despicable she, -
How bless'd, how pleasffl, how mmpy should I bet
Bat unregarded now most bear my pain,
And bat in dreams my wishes can obtain.
< O sea-born goddess I with thy wanton boy!
Was ever soch a charming scene of joy ?
Sach perfect burn ! such ravishing delight!
Ne'er hid before in the kind shades of night.
How pleas'd my heart 1 mwhatsweetrspturestost;
£v*n life itself in the soft combat lost, '
While breathless he on my beaVd bosom my,
And snatch'd the treasures of my sonl away.
* If the bare fancy so affects my mind; '
How should I rave, if to the substance jobfd?
iff ovnft MRAMWittn. BMir9.
Ofa,gentkCammsl qui t thy hated ham,
Or let thy prate bt no longer ate!
Oh, that in coraMO aU thing* wen earjoyM,
But those akme who baraom- hopes destroy*d.
Were I a princess, then an humble swain,
The proudest Jtinga abeuld rival face fa vain.
It cannot be, aha ! the dreadful 9
Is nVd by fate, and he1* any brother atilL
HearMe, yegocb! Imtttlmvefrieii&miieav'fl,
For Jove mmself was to a sitter gjv*n :
Bat what are their prerogatives above,
To the abort liberties of human lover
Fantastic thoughts f dawn, down, forbidden fires ;
Or instant dean catinanioh my dcako,
Strict virtue, then, with thy malicious leave,
Withoat a crime I asay n khn receive :
Bat say should I in spite of laws comply,
Yet cruel Caunu* might himself deny,
No pity take of an addicted maid,
(For love's sweet game nmst be by couples pmy*d).
Yet why shouldyonth, and charms tike mine despair?
Soch fears ne'er startled the JEotian pair ;
To ties of blood could their rail hopes destroy.
They broke through aU, for the prevailing joy ;
And who can tell but Caunus too may be
Rack'd and tormented in Us breast for me?
Like me, to the extremest anguish drove,
like me, just waking from a dream of love ?
But stay ! Ob whither would my fury run !
What arguments I urge to be undone!
Away, fond Byblis, quench these guilty flames j
Canons thy love but as a brother claims;
Yet had he first been touched with love of me,
The charming youth could I despairing see ?
Bt)0k 9. OYW'S METAMORPHOSES. 173
Oppressed with grief, and dying with disdain?
Ah, no ! too snre I should have eas'd his pain.
Since then, if Caunus ask'd me, it were dene ;
Asking myself, what dangers can I ran?
Bat canst thou ask ? and see that right betrayM,
From Pyrrha down to thy whole sex conveyed ?
That self-denying gift we all enjoy,
Of wishing to be won, yet seeming to be coy.
Well then, for once, let a fond mistress woo ;
The force of love no custom can subdue ;
This frantic passion he by words shall know,
Soft as the melting heart from whence they flow.'
The pencil then in her rair band she held,
By fear discoarag*d, but by love compell'd ;
She writes, men blots, writes on, and blots again,
Likes it as fit, then raises fe as vain : -
Shame and assurance in her face tippear,
And a faint hope just yfeldm% to despair ;
' Sister,' was wrote and blotted as a word,
Which she, and Caunus too, (she bop'd) abhorrM ;
Bat now resolv'd to be no more eontrol'd
By scrupulous vhrtnO, am het grief she told.
' Thy lover (gentle Caroms) wishes thee
That health, which thon alone canst give to me.
O charming youth ! the gift I ask bestow,
Ere thou the name of the fond writer know ;
To thee without a name 1 would be known,
Since, knowing that, my frailty I most own.
Yet why should I my wretched name conceal?
When thousand instances my*flames reveal ;
Wan looks and weeping eyes have spoke my pain,
And sighs discharged from ray heaVd heart in vain ;
Had I not wish'd my passion might be seen,
What could sach fondness and embraces mean ?
174 oyin's
Such kisses too! (Oh needless, lovely boyX
Without a crime do sister could enjoy:
Yet (though extremest rage has xack'd my soul.
And raging fires in my parch'd bosom roll)
Be witness, gods ! now piously I strove
To rid my thoughts of this enchanting love.
Bat who could 'scape so fierce and sure a dart,
Aim'd at a tender, a defenceless heart?
Alas ! what maid could suffer, I have borne,
Ere the dire secret from my breast was torn ;
To thee a helpless vanquish'd wretch I come,
'TIS yon alone can save, or give my doom ;
My life or death this moment yon may choose j
Yet think, oh think, no hated stranger sues,
No foe! bat one, alas! too near allied,
And wishing still much nearer to be tied.
The forms of decency let age debate,
And virtue's rules by their cold morals state ;
Their ebbing joys give leisure to inquire,
And blame those noble flights our youth inspire :
Where nature kindly summons let us go,
Our sprightly years no bounds in love should know,
Should feel no check of guilt, and fear no ill ;
Lovers and gods act all things at their will ;
We gain one blessing from our hated kin,
Since our paternal freedom hides the sin :
Uncensur'd in each other's arms we lie,
Think then how easy to complete our joy.
Oh! pardon and oblige a blushing maid,
Whose rage the pride of her vain sex betray'd ;
Nor let my tomb thus mournfully complain,
Here Byblis lies, by her lov'd Caunus slain.'
Forc'd here to end, she with a falling tear
Temper'd the pliant wax, which did the signet bear :
Book 9. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 175
The canons cipher was impressed by art, '
Bat love had stamp'd one deeper in her heart.
Her page, a yoath of confidence and skill,
(Secret as night) stood waiting on her will ;
Sighing (she cried) ' Bear this, tbou frithful boy ,
To my sweet partner in eternal joy.'
Here a long pause her secret guilt confesa'd; — }
Andwhenatlengmshewouldhavespoketherest, >
Half the dear name lay buried in her breast 3
Thus as he iistned to her rain command,
Down fell the letter from her trembling hand.
The omen shocked her soul. ' Yet go,' she cried,
' Can a request from Byblis be deny*dr*
To the Mseandrian youth tins message borne*
The half-read lines by his fierce rage were torn ;
* Hence, hence/ he cried, .' thou pander to her lust,
Bear hence the triumph of thy impious trust :
Thy instant death will but divulge her shame,
Or thy life's blood should quench the guilty flame.'
Frighted, from threatning Caunus he withdrew, .
And with the dreadful news to his lost mistress flew.
The sad repulse so struck the wounded fair,
Her sense was buried in her wild despair :
Pale was her visage, as the ghastly dead;
And her scared soul from the sweet mansion fled.
Yet with her life renewM, her love returns,
And faintly thus her cruel fate she mourns :
' 'Tis just, ye gods ! was my false reason blind,
To write a secret of this tender kind ?
With feeble craft I should at first have strove,
By dubious hints, to sound his distant love;
And tried those useful, though dissembled arts,
Which women practise on disdainful hearts :
176 OTCP*! MfTAIIMfHWM. Astfcff.
I should hare watehM whence the black storm
Ere I had trusted the umfiathfbJ side*, [might me,
Now on the rollinf billows I an tost,
And with extended satis on the blind shelves am lost
Did not imkdgent heaven nty doom roretel,
When from my hand the fttal tetter fell?
What madness seized my son!, and nrs/d me on
To take the only conrse to be aadone ?
I conld myself have told the moving tale
With such alluring grace as mast prevail ;
Then had his eyes beheld my Mooting rears,
My rising sighs, and my descending tears ;
Round In* dear neck these arms I then had spread,
And, if rejected, at his feet been dead;
If singly these bad not his thoughts inclin'd,
Yet all united would have skock'd his mind.
Perhaps my careless page might be in malt,
And in a luckless hour the ratal message brought:
Business and worldly thoughts might 611 his breast,
•Sometimes evn love itself may be an irksome guest :
He could not else have treated me with scorn,
For Caunus was not of a tigress born ;
Nor steel, nor adamant has fencM his heart j
like mine, tis naked to the burning dart*
1 Away raise fears! be must, he shall be mine;
In death alone I will my claim resign ;
"lis vain to wish my written crime unknown,
And for my guilt much vainer to atone.'
Repuls'd and baffled, fiercer still she burns,
And Caunus with disdain her impious love returns.
He saw no end of her injurious flame,
And fled his country to avoid the shame.
Forsaken Byblis, who had hopes no more,
Burst out in rage, and her loose robes she tore ;
Book 9. OVID'd METAMORPHOSES* 177
With her fair hands she smote her tender breast,
And to the wondering world her love confess'd ;
O'er hills and dales, o'er rocks and streams she flew,
Bnt still in vain did her wild lust pursue i
Wearied at length, on the cold earth she fell,
And now in tears alone could her sad story tell.
Relenting gods in pity fix'd her there.
And to a fountain turn'd the weening fair.
THE FABLE OF FPHIS AND IAHTHE.
The fame of this, perhaps, through Crete had
But Crete had newer wonders .of her own, [flown:
In Iphis changU For near the: Gnossian bounds,
(As loud report the miracle resounds)
At Phaestu* dwelt a man of honest blood, 1
But meanly born, and not so rich as good; f
Esteem'd, and lovM by aU the neighbourhood ; J
Who to his wife, before the time aisign'd
For child-birth came, tins bluntly spoke his inhvfc
' If heaven/ said Lygdus, * wiU vouchsafe to hear, 2
I have but two petitions to prefer; >
Short pains for thee, for me a son and heir* )
Girls cost as many throes in bemgtog forth )
Beside, when born, the tits are little worth ;
Weak puling things, unable to sustain
Their share of labour, and their bread to gain.
If, therefore, thou a creature shalt produce,
Of so great charges, and sq little use,
(Bear witness, heaven, with what relnctancy)
Her hapless innocence I doom to die,'
He said; and tears the common grief display,
Of him who bade, and her who must obey.
178 <mtf§ »MinannM AMU
Ye t Tekthosa stm persist!, to find
Fit arguments to more a father's mind ;
To* extend his wishes to a larger scope,
And in one vessel not confine Us hope.
Lygdw contmues hard : her time drew near.
And she her heavy load could scarcely bear;
When slumbering, in the latter shades of night,
Before the* approaches of retaining light,
She saw, or thought she saw, before her bed,
A glorious train, and bis at their head :
Her moony horns were on her forehead plac'd,
And yellow sheaves her shining temples grac'd;
A mitre for a crown she wore on high;
The dog and dappled boll were waiting by :
Osiris, songht along the banks of Nile,
The silent god, the sacred crocodile;
And last, a long procession moving on,
With timbrels, that assist the labouring moon.
Her slumbers seem'd ctispelTd ; and, broad awake,
She heard a voice, that thus distinctly spake :
c My votary, thy babe from death defend,
Nor fear to save whate'er the gods will send.
Delude with art thy husband's dire decree :
When danger calls, repose thy trust on me
And knowthouhadstnot served a thankless deity.1
This promise made, with night the goddess fled:
With joy the woman wakes, and leaves her bed;
Devoutly lifts her spotless hands. on high,
And prays the powers their gift to ratify.
Now grinding pains proceed to bearing throes,
Till its own weight the harden did disclose.
'Twas of the beauteous kind, and brought to light
With secresy, to shun the father's sight.
no.
■• \
deity.')
}
Book 9. ovid's metamorphoses. 179
The* indulgent mother did her care employ,
And pass'd it on her husband for a boy.
The nurse was conscious of the fact alone;
The rather paid his tows as for a son j
And call'd him Iphis, by a common name,
Which either sex with equal right may claim.
Iphis his grandsire was : the wife was pleas'd,
Of half the fraud by fortune's favour eastt :
The doubtful name was us'd without deceit,
And truth was cover'd with a pious cheat
The habit showed a boy, the beauteous race
With manly fierceness mingled female grace.
Now thirteen years of age were swiftly run,
When the fond rather thought the time drew on
Of settling in the world his only son ;
Ianthe was his choice ; so wondrous fair,
Her form alone with Iphis could compare ;
A neighbour's daughter of his own degree,
And not more bless'd with fortune's goods than he.
They soon espous'd: for they with ease were
Who were before contracted in the mind, [join'd,
Their age the same, their inclinations too ;
And bred together, in one school they grew.
Thus, fatally disposed to mutual fires,
They felt, before they knew, the same desires.
Equal their flame, unequal was their care ;
One lov'd with hope, one languish'd in despair.
The maid accus'd the lingering days alone :
For whom she thought a man, she thought her own,
But Iphis bends beneath a greater grief;
As fiercely burns, but hopes for no relief.
Ev'n her despair adds fuel to her fire ;
A maid with madness does a maid desire*
^h.a
Aid, scarce refoiniag tears, 'Alas!' said she,
* What awe of my lnye ra mams fer me !
How wild a passion works witfaia my breast 1
With what prodigious flames am IposscssM!
Could I the care of providence deserve,
Heaven most destroy me, if it weald preserve :
And that's my rate ; or sore it wonld have sent
Some usual evil for my pmnsasneat :
Not this unkindly curse; to rage, and bum.
Where nature shows no prospect of return.
Nor cows for cows consume with fruitless fire ;
Nor snares, when hot, their feUowmares desire;
Hie mther of the laid supplies Ua ewes ;
Hie stag through secret woods his hind pannes
And birds for mates the mules of their own spe-
Her ienanes nature guards from female flame, | 1
And joins two sexes to preserve the game ; J
Would I were nothing, or not what I am 1 )
Crete, mufd for monsters, wanted tor her store,
Till my new love produced one monster more ;
The daughter of the son a bull desir*d,
And yet ev'n then a male a female fir'd :
Her passion was extravagantly new,
But mine is much the madder of the two.
To tilings impossible she was not bent,
Bu$ found the means to compass her intent.
To cheat his eyes she took a different shape ;
Yet still she gain'd a lover and a leap.
Should all the wit of all the world conspire,
Should Daedalus assist my wild desire,
What art can make me able to enjoy,
Or what can change Ianthe to a boy?
Book 9. OVID'S METJUICWHOttt* 1*1
Extinguish then thy passion, hopeless maid !
And recollect thy reason for thy aid.
Know what thou art, and love as maidens ougjat,
And drive these golden wishes from thy thought
Thou canst not hope thy fond desires to gain;
Where hope is wanting, wishea ate in vain.
' And yet no guards against our joys conspire;
No jealous husband hinders our desire;
My parents are propitious to my wish,
And she herself consenting to the Wis*.
All things concur to prosper our design;
All things to prosper any love but mine.
And yet I never can enjoy the ftir;
Tis past the power of beav*n to grant my prsyY
Heaven has been kind, as for as heaven can be 3
Our parents with out, own desires Agree ;
But nature, stronger than the gods above.
Refuses her assistance to my love:
She sets the bar that causes aU my pain;
One gift refold, makes all their bounty vain.
And now the happy day is just at hand,
To bind our hearts in Hymen's holy band:
Our hearts, but not our bodies: thus accurs'd,
In midst of water I complain of thirst.
Why com'st thou, Juno, to these barren rites,
To bless a bed defrauded of delights?
But why should Hymen lift his torch on high
To see two brides in cold embraces lie?
Thus lovesick Iphis her vain passion mourns ;
With equal ardour fair Ianthe burns.
Invoking Hymen's name and Juno's pow'r,
To speed the work, and haste the happy hour.
She hopes, while Telethusa fears the day,
And strives to interpose some new delay :
vol. u. *
. ■■."■• IE
183 OVH>»i MftTAXOBMQMt £•***
Now feigns a sickness, now is in a fright
For this bad omen, or that boding sight
Bat having done whate'er she conld devise.
And emptied all her magazine of lies,
The time approacb'd ; the next ensuing day
The fatal secret most to light betray.
Then Teletbosa had recourse to pra/r,
She, and her daughter with dishevell'd hair j
Trembling with fear, great Isis they ador'd,
Embrac'd her altar, and her aid implor'd.
' Fair queen ! who dost on fruitful Egypt smile, J
Who sway'st the sceptre of the Pharian isle, >
And seven-fold falls of disemboguing Nile ; j
Relieve, in this our last distress,' she said,
' A suppliant mother and a mournful maid.
Thou, goddess, thou wert present to my sight ;
Reveal'd I saw thee by thy own fair light ;
I saw thee in ray dream, as now I see,
Wiih all thy marks of awful majesty;
The glorious train that compass'd thee around ;
Aud beard the hollow timbrel's holy sound.
Thy words I noted, which I still retain;
Let not thy sacred oracles be vain.
That Iphis lives, that I myself am free,
From shame and punishment I owe to thee:
On thy protection all our hopes depend,
Thy counsel sav'd us, let thy power defend.'
Her tears pursued her words; and while she
spoke
The goddess nodded and her altar shook :
The temple doors, as with a blast of wind,
Were heard to clap ; the lunar horns that bind
The brows of Isis, cast a blaze around;
The trembling timbrel made a murmuring sound.
Book 9. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 188
Some hopes these happy omens did impart;
Forth went the mother with a beating heart :
Not much in tear, nor folly satisfied ;
Bat Iphis follow**! with a larger stride :
The whiteness of her skin forsook her nee;
Her looks embolden/d wjth an awful grace ;
Her features and her strength together grew,
And her long nab to curling looks withdrew.
Her sparkling eyes with manly rigour shone,
Big was her voice, audacious was her tone.
The latent parts, at length reveaPd, began
To shoot, and spread, and burnish into man.
The maid becomes a youth; no more demy
Your vows, but look, and confidently pay.
Their gifts the parents to the temple bear:
The votive tables this inscription wear:
' Iphis, the man, has to the goddess paid
The vows that Iphis offerM when a maid.'
Now when the star of day had shown bis face,
Venus and Juno with their presence grace
The nuptial rites, and Hymen from above
Descending to complete their happy love :
The gods of marriage lend their mutual aid,
And the warm youth enjoys the lovely
END OP THE SECOHD VOLUME.
WnMtingbam and Rowland, Printer*, GotweU StoMt, London.
I
!
* OVID'S
METAMORPHOSES:
TRANSLATED FROM TBS LATUT,
pr
DRYDEN, GARTH, CROXALL,
AND OTHERS.
VOL. III.
LONDON:
Print** at tf>e fetrntftopt PfitfA
BY WHITTWGHAM AND ROWLAND,
GMtwJf Strut %
PUBLISHED BY 8UTTABY, STANCE, AND FOX, STATIONERS'
COURT, LUDGATE STREET; SHARPB AND HAKES, PICCA-
DILLY; AND TAYLOR AND HESSEY, FLEET STRUT.
181*.
mm^PT'
CONTENTS.
VOL. HI.
BOOKX.
The Story of Orpheus and Borydtce, by Oonfraw ~ 5
Toe Fable of Cypartssus, by tte same 10
■ continued by Croatall 19
fiyactn thus transformed into a Flower, by Onaft. 13
The Transformation of the Cerastes and PropflBtides, by
the same ....••••••••••.••■•■•.•••■•»••• 15
The Story of Pygmalion and the Statue, by Dryden.... 16*
The Story of Ctayras and Myrrna, by the same. • 19
The Story of Veniisajid Adonis, by Busden..... 31
BOOK XI.
The Death of Orpheus. byCfcamtt ».' A3
The Thradan Women trausfotmed to Trees, by the same 45
^eFabkofMite,bytbesame......4...f.: f.f 0
The Building of Troy, by the i
The Story of Thetis and Pefceus, me. by the setae, 58
The Transformation of DssdaUon. by the same 54
A Wolf turned into Marble, by the same. 57
The Story ofOerx and Alcyone, by Dryden 59
The House of Sleep, by the same. 68
JEsacos trsjisfonned into a Cormorant, by the tame .... 74
BOOK XII.
BY DRTDEW.
The Trojan War 75
The House of Fame 79
The8toryof Cygnus- 80
The Story of Cssneue 84
The Skirmish between the Centaurs and Lapttbites 86
The Story of Cyllarus and Hykmome 93
Cssneus transformed to an Eagle 95
The Fate of Periclymenos 99
The Death of Achilles 101
, .■■"■r;.v '^^
▼ 4XMfTKMTsV
BOOKXm.
fage
The Speeches of Ajaz and Ulysses, by Dryden, 104
The Death of Ajax, by the mom. 188
The Story of PeJyxena and Hecuba, by Temple Stauyan ib.
The Funeral of Memnon, by Croxall 189
The Voyage of JEneas, by Catcot 138
The 8tory of Ads, Polyphemus, and Galatea, by Dryden 137
The 8tory of Glaucus and Scy 11a, by Rowe 144
BOOK XIV.
BT DR. GARTH.
The Transformation of Scylla 148
The Voyage of JEneas continued 150
The Transformation of Cercopians into Apes ib.
JEneas descends to Hell 151
The Story of the Sibyl 158
The Adventures of Achssmenides. 153
The Adventures of Macareus.. » 154
The Enchantments of Circe ib.
The 8tory of Picus and Cantns 156
Aneas arrives in Italy 160
The Adventures of Diomedes 161
The Transformation of Appulns 168
The Trojan Ships transformed to Sea-Nymphs ib.
The Deification of JEneas. • 164
The Line of the Latian Kings 165
The Story of Vertumnus and Pomona 166
The Story of Iphis and Anaxarete 168
The Latian Line continued 179
The Assumption of Romulus. 171
The Assumption of Hersilia. 178
BOOK XV.
The Pythagorean Philosophy, by Dryden 174
The Story of Hippolytus, by Catcot 196
Eeeria transformed to a Fountain, by the same 198
The Story of Cippus, by Dr. Garth < 199
The Occasion of JEsculapius being brought to Rome, by
Welsted 301
The Deification of Julius Caesar, by the same. 906
The Reign of Augustus, in which Ovid flourished, by the
same. 811
The Poet concludes, by the same 818
'■rJ - ■■ .
■ x •.. ■
,■>*
.i
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK X.
TRANSLATED BY DRYDEN AND OTHERS.
THE STORY OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICK.
BY CON GR EVE.
■
Thence, in his saffron robe, for distant Thrace,
Hymen departs through air's unmeasur'd space ;
By Orpheus call'd, the nuptial power attends,
Hut with ill-omen'd augury descends;
Nor cheerful look'd the god, nor prosperous spoke,
Nor biaz'd his torch, but wept in hissing smoke.
Iu vain they whirl it round, in vain they shake,
No rapid motion can its flames awake.
With dread these inauspicious signs were view'd,
And soon a more disastrous end ensued;
For as the bride, amid the Naiad train,
Ran joyful, sporting o'er the flowery plain,
A venonVti viper bit her as she pass'd ;
Instant she fell, anfl sudden breath'd her last.
When long his loss the Thracian had deplor*d,
Not by superior powers to be restored ;
Inflaro'd by love, and urg'd by deep despair,
He leaves the realms of light, and upper air;
Daring to tread the dark Tenarian road,
And tempt the shades in their obscure abode
VOL. III. B
6 OVID'S MEfAMOWHOtW. ' Book 10,
Through gliding spectres of the' interr'd to go,
And pliantom people of the world below :
Persephone he seeks, and him who reigns
O'er ghosts, and hell's uncomfortable plains.
Arriv'd, be, tuning to his voice his strings,
-Thus to the king and queen of shadows sings : —
' Ye powers, who under earth your realms extend,
To whom all mortals must one day descend ;
If here 'tis granted sacred truth to tell,
J. come not, curious, to explore your hell ;
Nor come to boast (by vain ambition fir'd)
How Cerberus at my approach retirtf.
My wife alone I seek ; for her lov'd sake
These terrors I support, this journey take.
She luckless wandering, or by rate misled,
Chanc'd on a lurking viper's crest to tread ;
The vengeful beast inflam'd with fury starts,
And through her heel his deathral venom darts.
Thus was she snatch'd untimely to her tomb ;
Her growing years cut short, and springing bloom.
Long I my loss endeavoured to sustain,
.And strongly strove, but strove, alas! in vain :
At length I yielded, won by mighty love :
Well known is that omnipotence above !
But here, 1 doubt, his unfelt influence rails ;
And yet a hope within my heart prevails,
That here, ev'n here, he has been known of old ;
At least if truth be by tradition told ;
If fame of former rapes belief may find,
You both by love, and love alone, were join'd.
Now by the horrors which these realms surround;
By the vast chaos of these depths profound ;
By the sad silence which eternal reigns
O'er all the waste of these wide-stretching plains ;
Book 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 7
Let me again Eurydice receive,
Let fate her quickspun thread of life re-weave.
All oar possessions are but loans from you,
And soon or late you must be paid your doe :
Hither we haste to human-kind's last seat,
Your endless empire, and our sure retreat.
She too, when ripen'd years she shall attain,
Must, of avoidless right, be yours again :
I, but the transient use of that require,
Which soon, too soon, I most resign entire.
But if the destinies refuse my vow,
And no remission of her doom allow ;
Know, I'm determin'd to return no more ;
So both retain, or both to life restore.'
Thus, while the bard melodiously complains,
And to his lyre accords his vocal strains,
The very bloodless shades attention keep.
And, silent, seem compassionate to weep ;
Ev'n Tantalus his flood nntbirsty views,
Nor flies the stream, nor he the stream pursues ;
Ixiou's wondering wheel its whirl suspends,
And the voracious vulture, charm'd, attends ;
No more the Belides their toil bemoan,
And Sisyphus, reclin'd, sits listening on his stone.
Then first ('tis said) by sacred verse subdued,
The Furies felt their cheeks with tears bedew'd.
Nor could the rigid king or queen of hell,
The* impulse of pity in their hearts repel.
Now, from a troop of shades that last arriv'd,
Eurydice was call'd, and stood reviv'd :
Slow she advanc'd, and halting seem'd to feel
The fatal wound, yet painful in her heel.
Thus he obtains the suit so much desir'd,
On strict observance of the terms requir'd :
8 OYID'S METUfORraOtBI. B—k 10.
For if, before he reach the realms of air,
He backward cast hit eyes to view the fair,
The forfeit grant, that instant, void is made,
And she for ever left a lifeless shade.
Now through the noiseless throng their way
they bend,
And both with pain the nigged road ascend ;
Dark was the path, and difficult, and steep,
And thick with vapours from the smoky deep.
They well nigh now had pass'd the bounds of night,
And just approach'd the margin of the light,
When he, mistrusting lest her steps might stray,
And gladsome of the glimpse of dawning day,
His longing eyes, impatient, backward cast,
To catch a lover's look, bat look'd his last ;
For, instant dying, she again descends,
While he to empty air his arm extends.
Again she died, nor yet her lord reprovM ;
What could she say, but that too well he lov'd ?
One last ' farewell' she spoke, which scarce he
heard;
So soon she drop'd, so sudden disappear^.
All stun'd he stood, when thus bis wife he viewM
By second fate and double death subdued :
Not more amazement by that wretch was shown,
Whom Cerberus beholding turn'd to stone ;
Nor Ollenus could more astonished look,
When on himself Lethea's fault he took,
His beauteous wife, who too secure had dar'd
Her face to vie with goddesses compared :
Once join'd by love, they stand united still,
Turn'd to contiguous rocks on Ida's hill.
Now to repass the Styx in vain he tries;
Charon, averse, his pressing suit denies,
Book 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 9
Seven days entire, along the* infernal shores,
Disconsolate, the bard Earydice deplores;
Defil'd with filth his robe, with tears Us cheeks,
No sustenance but grief and cares he seeks :
Of rigid fate incessant he complains,
And helps inexorable gods arraigns.
This ended, to high Rhodope he hastes,
And Hsemus' mountain, Weak with northern blasts.
And now his yearly race the circling sun
Had thrice complete through watery Pisces ran,
Since Orpheus fled the race of womankind,
And all soft nnion with the sex dedm'd.
Whether his ill success this change had bred,
Or binding tows made to bk former bed :
Whatever the cause, in vain the nymphs contest,
With riral eyes, to warm his from breast ;
For every nymph with love his lays inspired,
Bat every nymph, repulrid, with grief tettfd.
A hill there was, and on tact bill a mead,
With verdure thick, but destitute of shade,
Where now the Muse's son no sooner sings,
No sooner strikes his sweet resounding strings,
But distant groves the flying sounds receive,
And listening trees their rooted stations leave :
Themselves transplanting, all around they grow,
And various shades their various kinds bestow.
Here, tall Chaonian oaks their branches spread,
While weeping poplars there erect their head :
The foodral Esculus here shoots his leaves ;
That turf soft lime-tree; this, rat beech receives :
Here brittle hazels, laurels here advance,
And there tough ash to form the hero's lance j
Here silver firs with knotless trunks ascend,
There scarlet oaks beneath their acorns bend.
10 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. BotkiO.
That spot admits the hospitable plane ;
On this, the maple grows with clouded grain ;
Here watry willows are with lotos seen ;
There tamarisk and box for ever green.
With double hne here myrtles grace the ground,
And lanrestines with purple berries crown'd.
With pliant feet now ivies this way wind,
Vines yonder rise, and elms with vines entwin'd.
Wild Ornus now, the pitch-tree next takes root,
And Arbutns adorn'd with blushing fruit.
Then easy-bending palms, the victor's prize,
And pines erect with bristled tops arise.
For Rhea grateful still the pine remains,
For Atys still some favour she retains ;
He once in human shape her breast had warm* d,
And now is cherish'd, to a tree transform'd.
THE FABLE OF CYPARIS8US.
Amid the throng of this promiscuous wood,
With pointed top, the taper cypress stood ;
A tree, which once a youth, and heavenly fair,
Was of that deity the darling care,
Whose hand adapts, with equal skill, the strings
To bows with which he kills, and harps to which
he sings.
For heretofore a mighty stag was bred,
Which on the fertile fields of Csea fed ;
In shape and size he all his kind excell'd,
And to Carthatan nymphs was sacred held.
His beamy head, with branches high displayed,
Afforded to itself an ample shade ;
His horns were gilt, and his smooth neck was
grac'd
With silver collars thick with gems cnchas*d :
Book 10. oyid's metamorphoses* li
A silver boss upon bis forehead hong, %
And brazen pendants in his ear-rings rung.
Frequenting houses, be familiar grew,
And learnt by custom nature to subdue ;
Till by degrees, of fear and wildness broke, .
Ev'n stranger hands his proffer'd neck might stroke*
Much was the beast by Caea's youth caress'd, •
But thou, sweet Cyparissns ! loVdst him best i
By thee to pastures fresh be oft was led,
By thee oft water*d at the fountain's head :
His horns with garlands now by thee were tied.
And now thou on his back wouldst wanton ride;
Now here, now there, wouldst bound along the'
plains,
Ruling his tender month with purple reins.
Twas wh.en the summer sun, at noon of day^
Through glowing Cancer shot his burning ray,
Twas then the favourite stag, in cool retreat,
Had sought a shelter from the scorching heat;.
Along the grass his weary limbs he la&,
Inlialing freshness from the breesy shade :
When Cyparissns with his pointed dart,
Unknowing, pierc'd him to the panting heart
But when the youth, surprised, his error found,
And saw him dying of the cruel wound,
Himself he would have slain through desperate
grief;
What said not Phoebus, that might yield relief 1
To cease his mourning he the boy desir'd,
Or mourn no more than such a loss reqair'd.
But he ineessant griev'd : at length addressed
To the superior powers a last request j
Praying, in expiation of his crime,
Thenceforth to mourn to all succeeding tin*
- ■ ■».-■'
■i
12 • OVID'S METAMOKF80MS. 4**ltl0.
And now, of blood exhausted be appears, .
Drain'd by a torrent of eootimml tears;
The fleshy colour in bis body ftdes,
And a green tincture all his limbs invades ;
From his fair head, where curling locks late bang,
A horrid bosh with bristled branches sprung,
Which, stiffening by degrees, its stem extends,
Till to the starry skies the spire ascends.
Apollo sad look'd on, and sighing cried,
' Then be for ever what thy prayer implied :
Bemoan'd by me, in others grief excite;
And still preside at every funeral rite.'
CONTINUED BY CROXALL.
Thus the sweet artist, in a wondrous shade
Of verdant trees which harmony had made,
Encircled sat, with his own triumphs crown'd,
Of listening birds, and savages around.
Again the trembling strings he dextrous tries,
Again from discord makes soft music rise.
Then tunes his voice : * O muse ! from whom I sprung,
Jove be my theme, and thou inspire my song.
To Jove my grateful voice I oft have rais'd,
Oft bis almighty power with pleasure prais'd.
I sung the giants in a solemn strain,
Blasted and thunderstruck on Phlegm's plain*
Now be my lyre in softer accents mov'd,
To sing of blooming boys by gods belov'd ;
And to relate what virgins, void of shame,
Have snffer'd vengeance for a lawless flame.
* The king of gods once felt the burning joy,
And sigh'd for lovely Ganymede of Troy :
Long was he puzzled to assume a shape
Most fit, and expeditious for the rape ;
Book 10. OVID'9 metamorphoses. 13
A bird's was proper, yet he scorns to wear
Any bat that which might his thunder bear.
Down with his masquerading wings he flies.
And bears the little Trojan to the skies j
Where now, in robes of heavenly purple dress'd,
He serves the nectar at the' almighty's feast.
To slighted Juno an unwelcome guest/
HYACINTH US TRANSFORMED INTO A FLOWER.
BY OZELL.
Phoebus for thee too, Hyacinth ! design*d
A place among the gods, had fate been kind :
Yet this he gave ; as oft as wintry rains
Are past, and vernal breezes soothe the plains,
From the green turf a purple flower you rise,
And with your fragrant breath perfume the skies.
You when alive were Phoebus* darling boy ;
In you he plac'd his heaven, and fix'd bis joy ;
Their god the Delphic priests consult in vain ;
Eurotas now he loves, and Sparta's plain :
His hands the use of bow and harp forget,
And hold the dogs, or bear the corded net ;
O'er hanging cliffs swift he pursues the game ;
Each hour his pleasure, each augments his flame.
The mid-day sun now shone with equal light
Between the past and the succeeding night ;
41iey strip ; then, smooth'd with suppling oil, essay
To pitch the rounded quoit, their wonted play :
A well-pois'd disk first hasty Phoebus threw,
It cleft the air, and whistled as it flew :
It reach'd the mark, a most surprising length ;
Which spoke an equal share of art and strength*
Scarce was it fall'n, when with too eager hand
Young Hyacinth ran to snatch it from the sand j
I
14 OVID'S METAMORPHOSE*. fl*ftl&
But the curs'd orb, which met a stony soil;
Flew hi his face with violent recoil.
Both faint* both pale, and breathless, now appear;
The boy with pain, the amorous god with fear.
He ran and rais'd him bleeding from the ground,
Chafes his cold limbs, and wipes the fatal wound :
Then herbs of noblest juice in vain applies;
The wound is mortal, and his skill defies.
As in a water'd garden's blooming walk,
When some rude hand has bruis'd its tender stalk,
A fading lily droops its languid head,
And bends to earth, its life and beauty fled :
So Hyacinth with head reclin'd decays,
And, sickening, now no more his charms displays.
* O thou art gone, my boy !' Apollo cried,
' Defrauded of thy youth in all its pride ;
Thou, once my joy, ait all my sorrow now,
And to my guilty hand my grief I owe.
Yet from myself I might the fault remove,
Unless to sport and play a fault should prove,
Unless it too were call'd a fault to love.
Oh could I for thee, or but with thee die !
But cruel fates to me that power deny.
Yet on my tongue thou shalt for ever dwell ;
Thy name my lyre shall sound, my verse shall tell ;
And to a flower Iransforra'd, unheard of yet,
Stamp'd on thy leaves my cries thou shalt repeat. *
The time shall come, prophetic I foreknow, )
When, join'd to thee, a mighty chief1 shall grow, >
And with my plaints his name thy leaf shall show.' j
While Phoebus thus the laws of fate reveal'd,
Behold, the blood which stain'd the verdant field
Is blood no longer ; but a flower full-blown,
Far brighter than the Tynan scarlet, shone.
1 Ajax.
•I
Book 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 15
A lily's form it took ; its purple hue
Was all that made a difference to the view.
Nor stop'd he here; the god upon its leaves
The sad expression of his sorrow weaves;
And to this hour the mournful purple wears
Ai, Ai, inscrib'd in funeral characters.
Nor are the Spartans, who so much are fam'd
For virtue, of their Hyacinth asham'd ;
But still with pompous woe, and solemn state,
The Hyacinthian Feasts they yearly celebrate*
THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE CERASTJB AND
PROPEPTIDES.
Inquire of Amathus, whose wealthy ground
With veins of every metal does abound,
If she to her Propsetides would show
The honour Sparta does to him allow ;
No more, she'd say, such wretches would we }
grace, [face, [
Than those whose crooked horns deform'd their i
From thence Cerastae call'd, an impious race : )
Before whose gates a reverend altar stood,
To Jove inscrib'd, the hospitable god !
This had some stranger seen with gore besmeared, f
The blood of lambs and bulls it had appeared : >
Their slaughter^ guests it was; not flock nor herd. 3
Venus these barbarous sacrifices view'd
With just abhorrence, and with wrath pursued :
At first, to punish such nefarious crimes, [climes:
Their towns she meant to leave, her once-lov'd
' But why,' said she, ' for their offence should I
My dear delightful plains and cities fly ?
No ; let the impious people, who have sin'd,
A punishment in death or exile find ;
16 otto's
If death or exile too severe be thisjgMy
Let them in some vile shape bcnwnn their matt'
While next her mind a proper form employs,
Admonish'd by their boras, she fix*d her choke:
Their former crest remains upon their heads,
And their strong limbs an ox's shape invades.
The blasphemous Propsetides denied
Worship of Venus, and her power defied :
But soon that power they felt, the first that sold
Their lewd embraces to the world for gold.
Unknowing how to blush, and shameless grown,
A small transition changes them to stone*
THE STORY OF PYGMALION AH O THB STATU!*
BYDRTDSH.
Pygmalion, loathing their lascivious life,
Abhor*d all womankind, but most a wire :
So single chose to bye, and shun'd to wed,
Well pleas'd to want a consort of his bed.
Yet fearing idleness, the nurse of ill,
In sculpure exercis'd his happy skill ;
And carvM in ivory such a maid, so fair,
As nature could not with his art compare,
Were she to work ; but in her own defence
Must take her pattern here, and copy hence.
Pleas'd with his idol, he commends, admires,
Adores; and, last, the thing adorM desires.
A very virgin in her race was seen,
And had she movM, a living maid had been :
One would have thought she could have stirr*d, but
strove
With modesty, and was asham'd to move.
Art hid with art so well performed the cheat,
It caught the carver with his own deceit :
B90k 10. OVID'S MBTAMORPHOSBS. \7
He knows 'tis madness, yet he must adore,
And still the more he knows it loves the more.
The flesh, or what so seems, he touches oft,
Which feels so smooth that he believes it soft.
Fir'd with this thought, at once bestrain'd the breast,
And on the lips a burning kiss impress'd.
Tis true, the harden'd breast resists the gripe,
And the cold lips return a kiss unripe :
Bat when, retiring back, he look'd again,
To think it ivory was a thought too mean ;
So would believe she kiss'd ; and, courting more,
Again embraced her naked body o'er ;
And straining hard the statue, was afraid
His hands had made a dint, and hurt his maid :
Explored her limb by limb, and fear'd to find
So rude a gripe had left a livid mark behind.
With flattery now he seeks her mind to move,
And now with gifts (the powerful bribes of love)
He furnishes her closet first; and fills
The crowded shelves with rarities of shells ;
Adds orient pearls, which from the conchs he drew,
And all the sparkling stones of various hue ;
And parrots, imitating human tongue,
And singing birds in silver cages hung ;
And every fragrant flower, and odorous green,
Were sorted well, with lumps of amber laid between:
Rich fashionable robes her person deck :
Pendants her ears, and pearls adorn her neck :
Her taper'd fingers too with rings are grac'd,
And an embroider'd zone surrounds her slender
waist.
Thus like a queen array'd, so richly dress'd,
Beauteous she show'd, but naked sbow'd the best.
Then, from the floor, he rais'd a royal bed,
With coverings of Sidonian purple spread.
4
18 OVID*! WTAMWMFMia. HtaYB
The solemn rites performM, he alls her mice,
With bfamdisimieDts invites her to his side;
And as she were with vital sense possessed,
Her head did on a plumy pillow rest.
The feast of Venus came, a solemn day.
To which the Cypriote due devotion pay ;
With gilded horns the milk-white heifers led,
Slaughtered before the sacred altars bled.
Pygmalion offering, first approachM the shrin
And then with prayers implor'd the powers diva
' Almighty gods ! if all we mortals want.
If all we can require, be yours to grant ;
Make this fair statue mine; (he would have said
But changed his words for shame ; and only pnry'd
Give me the likeness of my ivory maid!'
The golden goddess, present at the pray Y,
Well knew he meant the* inanimated firir.
And gave the sign of granting bis desire ;
For thrice in cheerful flames ascends the fire.
The youth, returning, to his mistress hies,
And impudent in hope, with ardent eyes,
And beating breast, by the dear statue lies.
He kisses her white lips, renews the bliss,
And looks, and thinks they redden at the kiss :
He thought them warm before; nor longer stays,
But next his hand on her hard bosom lays :
Hard as it was, beginning to relent,
It seem'd the breast beneath his fingers bent ;
He felt again, his fingers made a print, [dii
'Twas flesh, but flesh so firm, it rose against t
The pleasing task he fails not to renew ;
Soft, and more soft at every touch it grew;
Like pliant wax, when chafing hands reduce
The former mass to form, and frame for use.
Book 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. 19
He would believe, but yet is still ia pain,
And tries his argument of sense again,
Presses the pulse, and (eels the leaping veim
Convinc'd, o'erjoy'd, his studied thanks and praise
To her who made the miracle he pays :
Then lips to lips he join'd; now freed from tear,
He found the savour of the kiss sincere*
At this the waken* d image op*d her eyes,
And view'd at once the light and lover withsarprise.
The goddess, present at the match she made,
So bless'd the bed, such frmtfulneat eonveyM,
That ere ten months had sharpened either born,
To crown their bliss, a lovely boy was bora :
Paphos his name, who, grown to manhood, waird
The city Paphos, from the founder calM.
THE STORY OF CIMTRAS AJfD MYRRHA.
Nor him alone producM the fruitful queen;
But Cinyras, who like his sire had been
A happy prince, had he not been a sire.
Daughters and fathers from my song retire ;
I siug of horror ; and could I prevail,
You should not hear, or not believe my tale.
Yet if the pleasure of my song be such,
That you will bear, and credit me too much ;
Attentive listen to the last event,
And with the sin believe the punishment.
Since nature could behold so dire a crime,
I gratulate at least my native clime,
That such a land, which such a monster bore,
So far is distant from our Thracian shore.
fjet Araby extol her happy coast,
Her cinnamon and sweet Amomum boast,
Her second harvests, and her. double yean;
How can Uielaiidbecairdsobless'dtlatf Myni
bears?
Nor all her odorous tears can cleanse her erk
Her plant alone deforms the happy clone :
Cupid denies to have utflam'd thy hearty
Disowns thy love, and vindicates his dart.
Some fury gave thee those infernal pains,
And shot her venom'd vipers in toy veins.
To hate thy sire had merited a corse;
But soch an impious love deserved a worse*
The neighbouring monarch*, by thy beauty fo
Contend in crowds, ambitious of thy bed :
The world is at thy choice ; except but one,
Except but him, thou canst not choose alone.
She knew it too, the miserable maid,
Ere impious love her better thoughts betray*d,
And thus within her secret soul she said :
* Ah Myrrha ! whither would thy wishes tend
Ye gods, ye sacred laws, my soul defend
From such a crime as all mankind detest,
And never lodged before in human breast !
Bat is it sin ? or makes my mind alone
The' imagined sin ? for nature makes it none.
What tyrant then these envious laws began,
Made not for any other beast but man !
The father-bull his daughter may bestride,
The horse may make his mother-mare a bride ,
What piety forbids the lusty ram,
Or more salacious goat, to rut their dam ?
The hen is free to wed the chick she bore,
And make a husband whom she hatch'd before.
>md, >
nind* 3
Book 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES* «f
All creatures else are of a happier kind,
Whom aor ill-natur'd laws from pleasure bind
Nor thoughts of sin disturb their peace of mind
But man a slave of his own making lives ;
The fool denies himself what nature gives :
Too busy senates, with an over-care,
To make us better than our kind can bear.
Have dash'd a spice of envy in the laws,
And, straining up too high, have spoil'd the cause.
Yet some wise nations break their cruel chains,
And own no laws but those which love ordains ;
Where happy daughters with their sires are join'd,
And piety is doubly paid in kind*
Oh, that I had been born in such a clime ;
Not here, where 'tis the country makes the crime i
But whither would my impious fancy stray ?
Hence hopes, and ye forbidden thoughts, away !
His worth deserves to kindle my desires,
But with the love that daughters bear to sires.
Then had not Cinyras my rather been,
What hinder'd Myrrha's hopes to be his queen ?
But the perverseness of my fate is such,
That he's not mine, because he's mine too much :
Our kindred-blood debars a better tie ;
He might be nearer were he not so nigh.
Eyes, and their objects, never roust unite ;
Some distance is requir'd to help the sight :
Fain would I travel to some foreign shore,
Never to see my native country more,
So might I to myself myself restore ;
So might my mind these impious thoughts remove,
And, ceasing to behold, might cease to love.
But stay 1 must, to feed my mmish'd sight,
To talk, to kiss, and more, if more I might*
vol. in. c
\
2-i OVID'S METAMORPHOSES, fift* 10.
More, impious maid! what more canst tarn]
design?
To make a monstrous mixture hi thy tine,
Aud break all statutes human and divine !
Canst thou be calTd (to save thy wretched life)
Thy mother's rival, and thy father's wife ?
'Confound so many sacred names in one,
Thy brother's mother ! sister to thy son !
And feartt thou not to see the* infernal bands.
Their heads with snakes, with torches arm'd their
hands;
Full at thy face the* avenging brands to bear,
And shake the serpents from their biasing hair?
But thou in time the' increasing ill control,
Nor first debauch the body by the soul;
Secure the sacred quiet of thy mind,
And keep the sanctions nature has designed.
Suppose I should attempt, the* attempt were van,
No thoughts like mine his sinless sool profane ;
Observant of the right : and oh, that he
Could cure my madness, or be mad like me i'
Thus she : — but Cinyras, who daily sees
A crowd of noble suitors at his knees,
Among so many knew not whom to choose,
Irresolute to grant, or to refuse ;
But having told their names, inqnir'd of her
Who pleas'd her best, and whom she w ould prefer,
The blushing maid stood silent with surprise,
And on her father fix'd her ardent eyes,
And looking sigh'd, and as she sigh'd began
Round tears to shed, that scalded as they ran.
The tender sire, who saw her blush and cry,
Ascrib'd it all to maiden modesty,
And dried the falling drops, and, yet more kiud,
He strok'd her cheeks, and holy kisses join 'd.
Book 10. (Kill's METAMORPHOSIS. SS
She felt a secret venom fire her blood,
And found more pleasure than a daughter should ;
And, uk'd again what lover of the crew
She lik'd the best ; she answerd, ' One like yon.'
Mistaking what she meant, her pious will
He prais'd, and bid her so continue still :
The word of pious heard, she blnsh'd with shame
Of secret guilt, and conld not bear the name,
Twas now the mid of night, when slumbers dose
Our eyes, and soothe our cares with soft repose :
But no repose could wretched Myrrha find,
Her body rolling, as she rolfd her mind.
Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin,
And wishes all her wishes o'er again :
Now she despairs, and now resolves to try ;
Would not, and would again, she knows not why ;
Stops, and returns ; makes and retracts the vow ;
Fain would begin, but understands not how.
As when a pine is hew'd upon the plains,
And thtMaat mortal stroke alone remains.
Labouring in pangs of death, and threatening all,
This way and that she nods, considering where to
Ha Myrrha'9 miad, impcll'd ou either side, [fall:
Takes every bent, but cannot long abide :
Irresolute on which she should rely,
At last, unfix'd in all, is only lix'd to die.
On that sad thought she rests, resolv'd"on death,
She rises, and prepares to choke her breath :
Then while about the beam her zone she ties,
' Dear Cinyraa, farewell I' she softly cries ;
Fur thee I die, and only wish to be
Not hated, when thou know'st I die' for thee;
Pardon the crime, in pity to the cause.'—
This said, about her neck the noose she drawl.
t 24 OVID*! MnAHORPHOIU. £■
The mme, who lay without, her faithful gn
* Though not the words, the mormon, overlie
\d And sighs, and hollow sounds : anrpraVd will
\i She starts, and leaves her bed, and springs i
t Unlocks the door, and, enfring ont of brei
1 The dying saw, and instruments of death :
' She shrieks, she cuts the zone with trembhnj
And in her arms her fainting charge embrai
' Next, (for she now had leisure for her tean
I - She weeping aak'd, in these her blooming y
I What unforeseen misfortune caus'd her care
p To loath her life, and languish in despair?
I The maid with downcast eyes, and mute wit
I For death untinish'd, and ill-tim'd relief,
r Stood sullen to her suit : the beldam press'*
I The more to know, and bar'd her withered 1
[ Adjur'd her by the kindly food she drew
From these dry founts, her secret ill to shei
Sad Myrrha sigh'd, and turn'd her eyes asid<
The nurse still urg'd, and would not be Am
r Nor only promised secresy, but pray'd
She might have leave to give her offer'd aid
' Good-will,' she said/ my wantof strength su
And diligence shall give what age denies :
If strong desires thy mind to fury move,
* With charms and med'eines I can cure thy 1<
If envious eyes their hurtful rays have cast,
More powerful verse shall free thee from the
If Heaven, offended, sends thee this disease
Offended Heaven with prayers we can appc
What then remains, that can these cares proc
Thy house is flourishing, thy fortune sure :
Thy careful mother yet in health survives,
And, to thy comfort, thy kind father lives.1
f
Hook 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. €J;>
The virgin started at her father's name,
And sigh'd profonndly, conscious of the shame :
Nor yet the norse her impious love divin'd,
But yet surmis'd that love disturb'd her mind :
Thus thinking, she pursued her point, and laid,
And lull'd within her lap, the mourning maid ;
Then softly sooth'd her thus: * I guess your grief:
You love, my child ; your love shall find relief.
My long experienced age shall be your guide ;
Rely on that, and lay distrust aside :
No breath of air shall on the secret blow,
Nor shall (what most you fear) your father know.*
Struck once again, as with a thunder-clap,
The guilty virgin bounded from her lap,
And threw her body prostrate on the bed,
And, to conceal her blushes, hid her head :
There silent lay, and warn'd her with her hand
To go : but she received not the command ;
Remaining still importunate to know :
Then Myrrha thus : ' Or ask no more, or go: —
I pry'thec go, or staying spare my shame ;
What thou would'st hear is impious ev'n to name.'
At this, on high the beldam holds her hands,
And trembling both with age and terror stands ;
Adjures, and falling at her feet intreats, [threats,
Soothes her with blandishments, and frights with
To tell the crime intended ; or disclose
What part of it she knew, if she no further knows.
And last ; if conscious to her counsel made,
Confirms anew the promise of her aid.
Now Myrrha rais'd her head, but soon, oppress''
With shame, reclin'd it on her nurse's breast
Bath'd it with tears, and strove to have confess*
Twice she began, and stop'd : again she tried ;
The faltering tongue its office still denied.
88'd)
id:)
}
'26 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. B—kHL
At last ber veil before ber race she spread,
And drew a long preluding sigh, and said,
* O happy mother, in thy marriage bed P
Then groan'd, and ceas'd. The good old wooua
shook;
Stiff were her eyes, and ghastly was ber look ;
Her hoary hair upright with horror stood,
Made (to her grief) more knowing than she wosM.
Much slie reproached, and many things she said,
To cure the madness of the* unhappy maid,
In vain : for Myrrba stood convict of ill ;
Her reason vanquish'd, bat nnchans/d ber will:
Perverse of mind, unable to reply ;
She stood resolv'd, or to possess or die.
At length the fondness of a nurse prevail'd
Against her better sense, and virtue fail'd :
* Enjoy, my child, since such is thy desire,
Thy love,' she said ; (she durst not say, thy sire ;)
* Live, though unhappy, live on any terms :*
Then with a second oath her faith confirms.
The solemn feast of Ceres now was near,
When long white linen stoles the matrons wear;
Rank'd in procession walk the pious train,
Offering first-fruits, and spikes of yellow grain :
For niue long nights the nuptial-bed they shun,
And, sanctifying harvest, lie alone. [lord,
Mix'd with the crowd, the queen forsook ber
And Ceres' power with secret rites adored :
The royal couch, now vacant for a time,
The crafty crone, officious in her crime,
The first occasion took. The king she found
Easy with wine, and deep in pleasures drown'd,
Prepar'd for love : the beldam blew the flame,
Cohfess'd the passion, but conccal'd the name,
B09k 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 27
Her form she prais'd : the mouarch ask'd her years ?
And she replied, ' The same thy Myrrha bears.'
Wine, and commended beauty, fiVd his thought ;
Impatient, he commands her to be brought, [home,
Pleas'd with her charge performed, she hies her
And gratulates the nymph, the task was overcome.
Myrrha was joy'd the welcome news to hear;
But, clog*d with guilt, the joy was unsincere :
So various, so discordant is the mind,
That in our will a different will we find.
Ill she presag'd, and yet pursued her lust ;
For guilty pleasures give a double gust.
Twas depth of night : Arctophylax had driv'n
His lazy wain half-round the northern heav'n,
When Myrrha hasten'd to the crime desir'd :
The moon beheld her first, and first retired ;
Hie stars, amaz'd, ran backward from the sight,
And (shrunk within their sockets) lost their light.
Icarius first withdraws his holy flame :
The virgin sign, in Heaven the second name,
Slides down the belt, and from her station flies;
And night with sable clouds involves the skies.
Bold Myrrha still pursues her black intent ;
She stumbled thrice (an omen of the* event);
Thrice shriek'd the funeral owl; yet on she went,
Secure of shame, because secure of sight ;
Ev'n bashful sins are impudent by night.
Link'd hand in hand, the' accomplice and the dame,
Their way exploring, to the chamber came :
The door was ope, they blindly grope their way,
Where dark in bed the' expecting monarch lay.
Thus far her courage held, but here forsakes ;
Her faint knees knock at every step she makes.
ies.
■■ \
ent,l
I
?8 oyirt MMTiiKMiHiftni Asft*.
The newer to her crime, the mon wink •
3he feels remorse, and horror of hersu?} ■
Repenti too late her criminal desire,
And wishes that unknown she coald retire.
Her, lingering thus, the none (who learn deny
The fetal secret might at length Defray)
PulPd forward, to complete the work begem,
And said to Cinyrat, ' Receive thy own.'
Tims saying, she delivered kind to kind, .
Accnrs'd, and their devoted bodies JohrtL
The sire, unknowing of the criaae, admits
His bowels, and profanes the haUosr'd sheets : ■
He found she trembled, but beljeVd she strove 1
With maiden modesty against her love, [move. >
And sought wiUi flattering woidt yam fanc^ tore*}
Perhaps be said, * My daughter, cease thy fears,1
(Because the title suited with her years) ;
And, * Father,' she might whisper him again,
That names might not be wanting to the ate.
Full of her sire, she left the' incestuous bed,
And carrying in her womb the crime she bred.
Another and another night she came ;
For frequent sin had left no sense of shame : '
Till Cinyras desir'd to see her face
Whose body he had held in close embrace,
And brought a taper: the revealer, light,
Expos'd both crime and criminal to sight
Grief, rage, amazement, could no speech afford,
But from the sheath he drew the* avenging sword :
The guilty fled : the benefit of night,
That favour'd first the sin, secur'd the flight.
Long wandering through the spacionsfields^he bent
Jier voyage to the' Arabian continent ;
Book 10. OVID'8 METAMORPHOSES. 29
Then pass'd the region which Panchaea join'd,
And, 6ying, left the palmy plains behind.
Nine times the moon had mew'd her horns ; at length
With travel weary, unsopplied with strength,
And with the burden of her womb oppressed,
Sabsean fields afford her needful rest :
There loathing life, and yet of death afraid,
In anguish of her spirit thus she pray'd :
* Ye powers ! if any so propitious are
To' accept my penitence, and hear my pray'r ;
Your judgments, I confess, are justly sent;
Great sins deserve as great a punishment :
Yet since my life the living will profane,
And since my death the happy dead will stain,
A middle state your mercy may bestow,
Betwixt the realms above, and those below :
Some other form to wretched Myrrha give,
Nor let her wholly die, nor wholly live.'
The prayers of penitents are never vain :
At least she did her last request obtain ;
For while she spoke, the ground began to rise,
And gather'd round her feet, her legs, and thighs ;
Her toes in roots descend, and, spreading wide,
A firm foundation for the trunk provide ;
Her solid bones convert to solid wood,
To pith her marrow, and to sap her blood :
Her arms are boughs, her fingers chauge their kind,
Her tender skin is harden'd into rind.
And now the rising tree her womb invests,
Now shooting upwards still invades her breasts,
And shades the neck; when, weary with delay,
She sunk her head within, and met it half the way.
And though with outward shape she lost her sense,
With bitter tears she wept her last offence ;
;K) OVID'S MBTAMOSPHOtO. JfaaktO.
And still she weeps, nor sheds her tears u van:
For still the precious drops her name retsm.
Meantime the misbegotten inJant grows,
And, ripe for birth, distends with deadly nrsei
The swelling rind, with iinavailing strife, .
To leave the wooden womb, and poshes ints life.
The mother-tree, as if oppressed with pain,
Writhes here and there, to break the bark, is van;
And, like a labouring woman, wonld have pny'4,
But wants a voice to call Lucina's aid :
The bending bole sends out a hollow soend,
And trickling tears mil thicker on the ground.
The mild Lncina came uncall'd» and stood
Beside the straggling boughs, and beard the grat-
ing wood :
Then reach'd her midwife hand to speed her throes,
And spoke the powerful spells, that babes to birth
The bark divides, the living load to free, [disclose.
And safe delivers the convulsive tree.
The ready nymphs receive the crying child,
And wash him in the tears the parent-plant distuT<L
They swath'd him with their scarfs; beneath bin
spread
The ground with herbs ; with roses rais'd his bead.
The lovely babe was born with every grace,
Ev'n envy must have prais'd so fair a face :
Such was his form, as painters, when they show
Their utmost art, on naked loves bestow :
And that their arms no difference might betray.
Give him a bow, or his from Cupid take away.
Time glides along with undiscover'd haste,
The future but a length behind the past;
So swift are years. The babe, whom just before
His gvandsire got, and whom his sister bore ;
Book 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 31
The drop, the tiling, which late the tree inclos'd,
And late the yawning bark to life expos'd ;
A babe, a boy, a beauteous youth appears,
And lovelier than himself at riper years.
Now to -the queen of love he gave desires,
And with her pains reveng'd his mother's fires.
THE STORY OF VENUS AND ADONIS.
BY EUSDEN.
For Cytherea's lips while Cupid press'd,
He with a heedless arrow raz'd her breast.
The goddess felt it, and, with fury stung,
The wanton mischief from her bosom flung ;
Yet thought at first the danger slight, but found
The dart too faithful, and too deep the wound.
Fir'd with a mortal beauty, she disdains
To haunt the' Idalian mount, or Phrygian plains.
She seeks not Cnidos, nor her Paphian shrines,
Nor Amathus, that teems with brazen mines :
Ev'n heaven itself with all its sweets unsought,
Adonis far a sweeter heaven is thought,
On him she hangs, and fonds with every art,
And never, never knows from him to part.
She, whose soft limbs had only been displayed
On rosy beds beneath the myrtle shade,
Whose pleasing care was to improve each grace,
And add more charms to an unrival'd face,
Now buskin'd, like the virgin huntress, goes
Through woods, and pathless wilds, and mountain-
snows,
With her own tuneful voice she joys to cheer
The panting hounds, that chase the flying deer.
She runs the labyrinth of fearful hares,
But fearless beasts and dangerous prey forbears ;
39 OTID* *WTAMil**tfmV -WH
Hunts not the grinning wolf, or Jbsaay
And trembles at the lion's hungry rear. I
Thee too, Adonis, with* lover* owe I
She warns, if warn'd thou trouldat avoid 4» ss»i 1
' To furious animals advance not nigh, I
Fly those that follow, follow those that fly ; I
Tis chance alone must the survivors save, I
Whene'er brave spirits will attempt the brave. I
Oh! lovely youth! in hannlesasportadeftiat; I
Provoke not beasts, which, areVd by natore, fi|\t I
For me, if not thyself, vouchsafe to rear; I
Let not thy thirst of glory coat nie dear. I
Boars know not how to spare a blooming age; I
No sparkling eyes can soothe the lion's rage, I
Not all thy charms a savage breast can move, I
Which have so deeply tonch'd the qneeu of awe, I
When bristled boars from beaten thickets sprisft I
In grinded tasks a thunderbolt they bring. 1
The daring hunters lions rons'd devour, |
Vast is their fury, and as vast their powV :
Curs' d be their tawny race ! if thou would'st hear
What kindled thus my hate, then lend an ear :
The wondrous tale I will to thee unfold,
How the fell monsters rose from crime* of old.
But by long toils I faint : see ! wide displayed,
A grateful poplar courts us with a shade.
The grassy turf, beneath, so verdant shows,
We may secure delightfully repose.
With her Adonis here be Venus blessM ;
And swift, at once, the grass and him she pressU'
Then sweetly smiling, with a raptar'd mind.
On his lov'd bosom she her head reclin'd,
And thus began ; but, mindful still of
Beal'd the soft accents with a softer kiss.
Book 10. oyid's metamorphoses. 33
' Perhaps thou may 'st have heard a virgin's name,
Who still in swiftness swiftest youths o'ercame.
Wondrous ! that female weakness should outdo
A manly strength ; the wonder yet is true.
fTwas doubtful if her triumphs in the field
Did to her form's triumphant glories yield;
Whether her face could with more ease decoy
A crowd of lovers, or her feet destroy.
For once Apollo she implored to show
If courteous fates a consort would allow :
" A consort brings thy ruin," he replied ;
" Oh! learn to want the pleasures of a bride!
Nor shalt thou want them to thy wretched cost,
And Atalanta living shall be lost."
With such a rueful fate the* affrighted maid
Sought green recesses in the woodland glade.
Nor sighing suitors her resolves could move,
She bade them show their speed, to show their love.
He only who could conquer in the race,
Might hope the conquered virgin to embrace ;
While he, whose tardy feet had lag'd behind,
Was doom'd the sad reward of death to find.
Though great the prize, yet rigid the decree,
But, blind with beauty, who can rigour see?
Ev'n on these laws the fair they rashly sought,
And danger in excess of love forgot.
* There sat Hippomenes, prepaid to blame
In lovers such extravagance of flame.
" And must," he said, " the blessing of a wife
Be dearly purchas'd by a risk of life ?"
But when he saw the wonders of her face,
And her limbs naked, springing to the race,
Her limbs, as exquisitely turn'd as mine ;
Or, if a woman thou, might vie with thine;
*•
54 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 10.
With lifted hands be cried, u Forgive the tongue
Winch durst, ye youths, your weil-tira'd courage
wrong.
I knew oot that the nymph, for whom yon strove,
Dwerv'd the* unbounded transports of your love."
He saw, admir'd, and thus her spotless frame
He prais'd, and praising kindled his own flame.
A rival now to all the youths who ran,
Envious, he fears they should not be undone.
But why (reflects he) idly thus is shown
Tiie fate of others, yet untried my own :
The coward must not on love's aid depend ;
The god was ever to the bold a friend.
Meantime the virgin flies, or seems to fly,
.Swift as a Scythian arrow cleaves the sky :
Still more and more the youth her charms admires,
The race itself t' exalt her charms conspires.
The golden pinions, which her feet adorn,
In wanton fluttering by the winds are borne.
Down from her head, the long (air tresses flow,
And sport with lovely negligence below.
The waving ribbonds, which her buskins tie.
Her snowy skin with waving purple die ;
As crimson veils, in palaces displayed,
To the white marble lend a blushing shade.
Not long he gaz'd ; yet while he gaz'd, she gain'd
The goal, and the victorious wreath obtain'd.
The vanquished sigh, and as the law decreed,
Pay the dire forfeit, and prepare to bleed.
* Then rose Hippomencs, not yet afraid,
And fix'd his eyes full on the beauteous maid.
" Where is," he cried, " the mighty conquest won,
To distance those who want the nerves to run ?
Book 10. ovid's metamorphoses. 55
Here prove superior strength, nor shall it be
Thy loss of glory, if excell'd by me.
High my descent, near Neptune I aspire;
For Neptune was grand-parent to my sire.
From that great god the fourth myself I trace,
Nor sink my virtues yet beneath my race.
Thou, from Hippomenes o'ercome, may'st claim
An envied triumph, and a deathless fame."
' While thus the youth the virgin power defies,
Silent she views him still with softer eyes.
Thoughts in her breast a doubtful strife begin,
u If 'tis not happier now to lose than win.
What god, a foe to beauty, would destroy
The promis'd ripeness of this blooming boy ?
With his life's danger does he seek my bed?
Scarce am I half so greatly worth," she said,
" Nor has his beauty mov'd my breast to love,
And yet, I own, such beauty well might move:
'Tis not his charms, 'tis pity would engage
My soul to spare the greenness of his age.
What, that heroic courage fires his breast,
And sliiues through brave disdain of fate confess'd ?
What, that his patronage by close degrees
Springs from the' imperial ruler of the seas ?
Then add the love which bids him undertake
The race, and dare to perish for my sake.
Of bloody nuptials, heedless youth, beware ; '
Fly, timely fly, from a too barbarous fair.
At pleasure choose ; thy love will be repaid
Ky a less foolish, and more beauteous maid. .
Hut why this tenderness, before unknown ?
Why beats and pants my breast for 1pm alone ?
His eyes have seen his numerous rivals yield ;
Let him too share the rigour of the field,
h
?"* * kind »r ■• *© wifcT *■» •*
A soft ,£*■» 8«ccoUP J£ ® am<>roii* «
ffetf 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 37
Pity, I own, soon gain'd the wish'd consent,
And all the' assistance he implor'd I lent.
The Cyprian lands, though rich, in richness yield
To that surnam'd the Tamasenian field.
That field of old was added to my shrine,
And its choice products consecrated mine.
A. tree there stands, full glorious to behold,
Oold are the leaves, the crackling branches gold.
It chanc'd, three apples in my hands I bore,
Which newly from the tree I sportive tore ;
Seen by the youth alone, to him I brought
The fmit ; and when, and how to use it, taught.
The signal sounding by the king's command,
Both start at once, and sweep the' imprinted sand :
So swiftly mov'd their feet, they might with ease,
Scarce rooUten'd, skim along the glassy seas;
Or with a wondrous levity be borne
O'er yellow harvests of unbending corn.
Now favouring peals resound from every part,
Spirit the youth, and fire his fainting heart.
*' Hippomenes!" they cried, " thy life preserve;
Intensely labour, and stretch every nerve.
Base fear alone can baffle thy design,
Shoot boldly onward, and the goal is thine."
Tis doubtful whether shouts, like these, convey'd
More pleasures to the youth, or to the maid.
When a long distance oft she could have gain'd,
She check'd her swiftness, and her feet restrained :
She sigh'd, and dwelt, and languish'd on his face,
Then with unwilling speed pursued the race.
O'erspentwith heat, his breath he faintly drew,
Parchtt was his mouth, nor yet the goal in view,
And the first apple on the plain he threw •
VOL. III. D
;;l
38 OTID'I M BTAMOMVMtt. M*
The nymph stopd sodden at the* amaaas1 aft
Struck with the fruit ao hiiaalMaDj bright
Aside she starts, the wonder to fcaaaU,
And eager stoops to catch the loflsug gaM.
The* observant youth passM by, and acoaHamj
While peals of joy ntngfrom lhVaM»lsailiagliia|
Unkindly she correcta the ahort delay,
And to redeem the time fleets swift away ;
Swift as the lightning, or the northern wind,
And far she leaves the panting youth k*"***
Again he strives the flying nymph to hold
With the temptation of the second gold :
The bright temptation fruitlessly was toard,
Bo soon, alas! she won the Hi»»>Ttrf, jq^
Now bat a little interval of space
Remain'd for the decision of the race.
" Fair author of the precious gift/' he said,
" Be thou, O goddess, author of my aidP
Then of the shining fruit the last he drew,
And with his full-collected vigour threw :
The virgin still the longer to detain,
Threw not directly, but across the plain.
She seem'd a while perplex'd in dubious thought,
If the far-distant apple should be sought :
I lard her backward mind to seize the bait,
And to the massy gold gave double weight.
My favour to my votary was showed,
Her speed I lessen'd, and increased her load.
But lest, though long, the rapid race be run,
Before my longer tedious tale is done,
The youth the goal, and so the virgin won.
' Might I, Adonis, now not hope to see
His grateful thanks pouril out for victory ?
Book 10. OVID'S METAMORPHOSE!. 99
His pious incense on my altars laid ? —
But he nor grateful thanks nor incense paid.
Enrag'd I vow'd, that with the youth the fair,
For his contempt, should my keen vengeance share j
That future lovers might my power revere,
And, from their sad examples, learn to fear.
The silent fanes, the sanctified abodes,
Of Cybele, great mother of the gods,
Rais'd by Echion in a lonely wood,
And full of brown religious horror stood.
By a long painful journey faint, they chose
Their weary limbs here secret to repose.
But soon my power infiam'd the lustful boy :
Careless of rest he sought untimely joy.
A hallow'd gloomy cave, with moss o'ergrown,
The temple join'd, of native pumice-stone,
Where antique images by priests were kept.
And wooden deities securely slept.
Thither the rash Hippomenes retires,
And gives a loose tp all his wild desires,
And the chaste cell pollutes with wanton fires.
The sacred statues trembled with surprise,
The towery goddess, blushing, veil'd her eyes:
And the lewd pair to Stygian sounds had sent,
But unrevengeful seem'd that punishment.
A heavier doom such black profaneness draws,
Their taper fingers turn to crooked paws :
No more their necks the smoothness can retain,
Now cover'd sudden with a yellow mane.
Arms change to legs: each finds the hardening
breast
Of rage unknown, and wondrous strength possessed.
Their alter'd looks with fury grim appear,
And on the ground their brushing tails they bear.
}
40
OVID'S MBTAMCHUmi
Bat*
They haimt the woods s their fwiott,wtfehkfai
Were musically sweet, now hoiianh n
Hence Horn, dreadful to the lsJmraag
Are tam'd by Cybele, and cnrb'd waft
And humbly draw her ear aloaw the
Bat thou, Adonis, my dfalfhifal car
Of these, and beasts as fierce a* these, beware!
The savage, which not than* thee, timely sans;
For by rash prowess shookfst thou be nodose,
A double rain is contained in one.'
Thns cautions Venus schoor'd her aWoarite bsy;
But youthful heat all cautions will destroy.
His sprightly soul beyond grave coonaeh flics,
While with yok'd swans the godjeni cats the
His faithful hounds, led by the tainted wind,
Lodg'd in thick coverts, chancM a boar to had.
The callow hero show'd a manly heart,
And pierc'd the savage with a aide-long dart
The flying savage, wounded, tnrn*d ag*'";
Wrench'd out the gory dart, and foam*d «#
pain.
The trembling boy by flight his safety sought,
And now recall'd the lore which Venus taught;
But now too late to fly the boar he strove,
Who in the groin his tusks impetuous drove :
On the discolour* d grass Adonis lay,
The monster trampling o'er his beauteous prey.
Fair Cytherea, Cyprus scarce in view, )
Heard from afar his groans, and own'd them troe,[
And turn'd her snowy swans, and backward flew. J
But as she saw him gasp bis latest breath.
And quivering agonize in pangs of death ;
Down with swift flight she plung'd, nor rage forbore;
At once her garments and her hair she tore.
«
\
I
£
BeoklO. OVlll'l MKTAKOBPHMM. 4
Pith eracl blowi die beat her giattln* breaM,
Pith* . „.
la* thou for ever, my Adcit I aaonra'd.
Sonld Pluto's qnern with jaajaaj fur* itonc,
ind Menthe to » fragrant herb trataform f
ret dam not Vena* with a change tttipfhw,
Ukd in a flower bi^ ber fiuTu bero riaeP
Tlien on the blood iweet nectir ine bestowi,
["he scented blood hi little babble* ro*e :
j tt ie a* rainy drape, whkb fluttering Sj,
Some by tbe triad*, along a louring iky.
Ihort time enaaed, till where the blood wa* the
W flower began to rear Itapaipla bead:
Inch, a* on Poniek applet ii reveaTd,
3r in the law rind tat half cmeeal'd.
(till here tlw (ate of lovely form we tee,
Jo sudden fade* the meet Anemone,
[lie feeble •tenu, to (tonhj bkati a prey,
["heir sickly beaatie* droopy and pine away.
■The wind* forbid the flower* to ftoorith long.
Which owe to wind* their Dame* in Grecian m
J
OVID'S METAMORPHOSE
BOOK XI.
TRANSLATED BY DRTDSN AND OTHH
THE DEATH OT ORPHEUS.
BT CBOXAIX.
Here, while the Thracian bard* enchanting
Soothes beasts, and woods, and all the listening
The female Bacchanals, devoatly mad,
In shaggy skins, like savage creatures clad.
Warbling in air perceiv'd his lovely lay,
And from a rising ground beheld him play.
When one, the wildest with dishevePd hair.
That loosely stream'd, and raffled in the air ;
Soon as her frantic eye the lyrist spied,
' See, see ! the hater of oar sex,' sue cried.
Then at his face her missive javelin sent,
Which whiz'd along, and brasb'd him as it w<
Bat the soft wreathes of ivy, twisted round,
Prevent a deep impression of the wound.
Another, for a weapon, hurls a stone,
"Which, by the sound subdued as soon as thn
Falls at his feet ; and, with a seeming sense,
Implores his pardon for its late offence.
But now their frantic rage unbounded gro
Turns all to madness, and no measure knows
Book 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 45
Yet this the charms of music might subdue.
But that, with all its charms, is conquer'd too ;
In louder strains their hideous yelbngs rise,
And squeakiug born-pipes echo through the ikies,
Which, in hoarse consort with the drum, confound
The moving lyre, and every gentle sound :
Then 'twas the deafen'd stones flew on with speedy
And saw, unsooth'd, their tuneful poet bleed.
The birds, the beasts, and all the savage crew
Which the sweet lyrist to attention drew,
Now, by the female mob's more furious rage
Are driv'n, and forc'd to quit the shady stage.
Next their fierce hands the bard himself assail,
Nor can his song against their wrath prevail :
They flock like birds, when, in a clustering flight,
By day they chase the boding fowl of night.
So crowded amphitheatres survey
The stag, to greedy dogs a future prey.
Their steely javelins, which soft cuds entwine
Of budding tendrils from the leafy vine,
For sacred rites of mild religion made,
Are flung promiscuous at the poet's head.
Those clods of earth or flints discharge, and these
Hurl prickly branches siiver'd from the trees :
And, lest their passion should be unsupplied,
The rabble crew, by chance, at distance spied
Where oxen, straining at the heavy yoke,
The fallow'd field with slow advances broke;
Nigh which the brawny peasants dug the soil,
Procuring food with long laborious toil.
These, when they saw the ranting throng draw near,
Quitted their tools and fled, possessed with fear.
Long spades, and rakes of mighty size, were found,
Carelessly left upon the broken ground.
44 otid*b mmTAMumraotau A*u.
With these the fa-ions laoatk* «q^
And fint the labouring axea fed feir life;
Then to the poet they return with speed,
Whose fate was, past prerentioav bow dittsei;
In vain he lifts bis suppliant hands, hi van
He tries, before, his nevcr-tidliag strata.
And from those sacred lips, whose tariBiagsisw
Fierce tigers and insensate rocks conk) wosai,
Ah gods ! how moving was the moanstal sight!
To see the fleeting soul now take ill flight.
Thee the soft warblers of the reataer'd kant
BewaiPd ; for thee thy savage audience piatt;
Those rocks and woods, that oft thy stratnaad les\>
Monrn for their charmer, and lament him dead;?
And drooping trees their leafy glories shed. )
Nai'ds and Dryads with disbevel'd hair
Promiscuous weep, and scarfs of sable wear;
Nor could the river-gods conceal their moan,
Bat with new floods of tears augment their owa»
His mangled limbs lay scattered all around,
His head and harp a better fortune found ;
In Hebrus' streams they gently roll'd along,
And sooth'd the waters with a monrnrol song.
Soft deadly notes the lifeless tongne inspire,
A doleful tune sounds from the floating lyre;
The hollow banks in solemn consort mourn,
And the sad strain in echoing groans return.
Now with the current to the sea they glide,
Borne by the billows of the briny tide ;
And driv'n where waves round rocky Lesbos roar.
They strand, and lodge upon Methymna's shore.
But here, when landed on the foreign soil,
A venom'd snake, the product of the isle,
Book 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 45
Attempts the head, and sacred locks embruV)
With clotted gore and still fresh-dropping blood.
Phoebus at last his kind protection gives,
And from the fact the greedy monster drives ;
Whose marbled jaws his impious crime atone,
Still grinning ghastly, though transformed to stone.
His ghost flies downward to the Stygian shore,
And knows the places it had seen before :
Among the shadows of the pions train
He finds Eurydice, and loves again ;
With pleasure views the beauteous phantom**
charms,
And clasps her in his unsubstantial arms.
There side by side they unmolested walk.
Or pass their blissful hours in pleasing talk j
Aft or before the bard securely goes,
And, without danger, can review his spouse.
THE THRACIAN WOMEN TRANSFORMED TO
TREES.
Bacchus, resolving to revenge the wrong
Of Orpheus murdered, on the madding throng,
Decreed that each accomplice-dame should stand
Fix'd by the roots along the conscious land.
Their wicked feet, that late so nimbly ran
To wreak their malice on the guiltless man,
Sudden with twisted ligatures were bound,
Like trees, deep planted in the turfy ground.
And, as the fowler with his subtle gins
His feather'd captives by the feet entwines,
That fluttering pant, and struggle to get loose,
Yet only closer draw the fatal noose ;
So these were caught ; and, as they strove in vain
To quit the place, they but increas'd their pain»
46 OYUfc
They flounce and toil, yetftnd
The root, though pliant, toagntj keeps I* avi
In vain their toca and feet they look tsiad,
For evil their shapely legs are dotkM with nmi
One smites her thighs with a laneniittf^atnkB,
And finds the flesh tranrform'd to solid oak;
Another, with surprise and grief dbUess'd,
Lays on above, bnt beats a wooden breast
A ragged bark their softer neck invades,
Their branching arms shoot up defigfatfid saafe;
At once they seem and are a real grove,
With mossy trunks below, and verdant leaveaass*
THE FABLB OF —fPAi*
Nor this suffic'd : thegod*s .
And be resolves to quit their hated plains;
The vineyards of Tymole ingroas bis care,
And, with a better choir, he fixes there ;
Where the smooth streams of clear PactohtfnA
Then undistinguish'd for its sands of gold.
The Satyrs with the nymphs, his osoal throng,
Come to salute their god, and jovial dane'd sJoa>
Silenos only miss'd; for while he reel'd,
Feeble with age and wine, about the field,
The hoary drunkard had forgot his way,
And to the Phrygian clowns became a prey;
Who to king Midas drag the captive god,
While on his totty pate the wreaths of ivy nod.
Midas from Orpheus had been taught his loft,
And knew the rites of Bacchus long before.
He, when he saw bis venerable guest,
In honour of the god ordain'd a feast.
Ten days in course, with each continued night,
Were spent in genial mirth, and brisk delight :
A
Both 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 47
Then on the' eleventh, when with brighter my
Phosphor had chatfd the fading stars away,
The king through Lydia's fields young Bacchus
sought,
And to the god his foster-father brought
Pleas*d with the welcome sight, he bids him soon
But name his wish, and swears to grant the boon.
A glorious offer ! yet but ill bestow'd
On him whose choice so little judgment showed.
' Give me,' says he, (nor thought he ask'd too much)
4 That with my body whatsoe'er I touch,
Cuang'd from the nature which it held of old,
May be converted into yellow gold !'
He had his wish ; but yet the god repin'd,
To think the fool no better wish could find.
But the brave king departed from the place,
With smiles of gladness sparkling in his race :
Nor could contain ; but as he took bis way,
Impatient longs to make the first essay.
Down from a lowly branch a twig he drew,
The twig straight glitter'd with a golden hue :
He takes a stone, the stone was turn'd to gold j
A clod he touches, and the crumbling mold
Acknowledged soon the great transforming pow'r,
In weight and substance like a mass of ore.
He pluck'dthe corn ; and straight his grasp appears
Fill'd with a bending tuft of golden ears.
An apple next he takes, and seems to hold
The bright Hesperian vegetable gold.
His band he careless on a pillar lays,
With shining gold the fluted pillars blaze :
And while he washes, as the servants poor,
His touch converts the stream to Dane's show'r.
Bo*k ii, OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 49
There, as the babbling tide poors forth amain,
To plunge his body in, and wash away the stain.
The king instructed to the fount retires,
Bnt with the golden charm the stream inspires :
For while this quality the man forsakes,
An equal power the limpid water takes ;
Informs with veins of gold the neighbouring land,
And glides along a bed of golden sand.
Now loathing wealth, the' occasion of his woes,
Far in the woods he sought a calm repose ;
In caves and grottos where the nymphs resort,
And keep with mountain Pan their silvan court.
Ah, had he left his stupid soul behind !
But his condition altered not his mind.
For where high Tmolus rears his shady brow,
And from his cliffs surveys the seas below,
In his descent, by Sardis bounded here,
By the small confines of Hypaepae there,
Pan to the nymphs his frolic ditties play'd,
Tuning his reeds beneath the chequer'd shade.
The nymphs are pleas'd, the boasting silvan plays.
And speaks with slight of great Apollo's lays.
Tmolus was arbiter ; the boaster still
Accepts the trial with unequal skill.
The venerable judge was seated high
On his own hill, that seem'd to touch the sky.
Above the whispering trees his head he rears,
From their encumbring boughs to free his ears ;
A wreath of oak alone his temples bound,
The pendant acorns loosely dangled round.
' In me, your judge,' says he, * there's no delay :'
Then bids the goatherd god begin and play.
Pan tun'd the pipe, and with his rural song
Pleas'd the low taste of all the vulgar throng j
}
60 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Boftfc 11.
Such songs a vulgar judgment mostly please,
Midas was there, and Midas judg'd with these.
The mountain sire with grave deportment now
To Phoebus turns bis venerable brow ;
And9 as he turns, with him the listening wood
In the same posture of attention stood.
The god his own Parnassian laurel crown'd,
And in a wreath his golden tresses bound ;
Graceful bis purple mantle swept the ground.
High on the left his ivory lute he rais'd ;
The lute, emboss'd with glittering jewels, blaz'd.
In his right hand he nicely held the quill,
His easy posture spoke a master's skill.
The strings he touch'd with more than human art,
Which pleas'd the judge's ear, and soonVd his
heart;
Who soon judiciously the palm decreed.
And to the lute postpon'd the squeaking reed.
All with applause the rightful sentence heard,
Midas alone dissatisfied appeaiM ;
To him unjustly given the judgment seems,
For Pan's barbaric notes he most esteems.
The lyric god, who thought his untun'd ear
Deserv'd but ill a human form to wear,
Of that deprives him; and supplies the place
With some more fit, and of an ampler space :
Fix'd on his noddle an unseemly pair,
Flagging, and large, and full of whitish hair ;
Without a total change from what he was,
Still in the man preserves the simple ass.
He, to conceal the scandal of the deed,
A purple turban folds about his head ;
Veils the reproach from public view, and fears
The laughing world would spy his monstrous ears.
j
Book 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 9%
One trusty barber-slave, that us'd to dress
His master's hair, when lengthen'd to excess.
The mighty secret knew, but knew alone,
And, though impatient, durst not make it known.
Restless at last, a private place he found,
Then dug a hole, and told it to the ground ;
In a low whisper he reveal'd the case,
And cover' d in the earth, and silent left the place.
In time, of trembling reeds a plenteous crop
From the confided furrow sprouted up ;
Which, high advancing with the ripening year,
Made known the tiller, and his fruitless care :
For then the rustling blades, and whispering wind,
To tell the* important secret both combin'd.
THE BUILDING OF TROY.
Phoebus, with full revenge, from Tmolus flies,
Darts through the air, and cleaves the liquid skies :
Near Hellespont he lights, and treads the plains
Where great Laomedon sole monarch reigns :
Where, built between the two projecting strands,
To Panomphaean Jove an altar stands.
Here first, aspiring thoughts the king employ,
To found the lofty towers of future Troy.
The work, from schemes magnificent begun,
At vast expense was slowly carried on :
Which Phcebus seeing, with the trident-god
Who rules the swelling surges with his nod,
Assuming each a mortal shape, combine
At a set price to finish his design.
The work was built; the king their price denies,
And his injustice backs with perjuries.
This Neptune could not brook, but drove themain,
A mighty deluge, o'er the Phrygian plain :
53 OVIB'S METAMORPHOSES, Bmk 11.
Tins all a sea ; the waters of the deep
From every Tale the copious harvest sweep ;
The briny billows overflow the soil,
Ravage die fields, and mock the ploughman's tofl.
Nor this appeas'd the gobTs revengeful mind :
For still a greater plague remiss behind ;
A huge sea-monster lodges on the sands.
And the king's daughter for ms prey demands.
To him that sav'd the damsel, was deciccd
A set of horses of the sun's fine breed :
Bat when Alcides from the rock untied
The trembling fair, the ransom was denied.
He, in revenge, the new-built walls attack'd,
And the twice-perjurM city bravely sack'd.
Tebmon aided, and injustice shar*d
Part of the plunder as his doe reward :
The princess, rescued late, with all her charms,
Hesione, was yielded to bis arms :
For Peleos, with a goddess-bride, was more
Proud of bis spouse, than of his birth before :
Grandsons to Jove there might be more than one,
But he the goddess had enjoyM alone.
THE STORY OF THETIS AND PEI.ECS, &C.
For Proteus thus to virgin Thetis said, 1
4 Fair goddess of the waves! consent to wed, >
And take some sprightly lover to your bed : )
A son you'll have, the terror of tlie field,
To whom in fame and power his sire shall yield.'
Jove, who ador*d the nymph with boundless love,
Did from bis breast the dangerous flame remove.
**e knew the Fates, nor car'd to raise up one,
wbose fame and greatness should eclipse his own.
BmIc It. c-MBa uxummnKtHM. *3
On nappy Peleni be bestowM her channe,
And blcu'd lii» grandcon in the goddst* nw,
A lilent creek Thwwlwl coMt cm show,
Two arm* project^ and ilwpe it like a bow j
'twould nuke « Stay , but the transparent tMe
Docs scarce die yellow-f raveTd boltea bide ;
For the quick eye may through the liquid wave
A finn unwecdy level beech perceive.
A grove ofrrmgrantiEyrtle near it grows, [close;
Whose boughs, though thick, a beauteous) grot dkv
The well-wiought fabric, to dfaeertJDg eyes.
Bather by art than nature teems to rise.
A bridled dolphin oft fair Thetis bore
To this her lov'd retreat, her firroorit* sfcore.
Here Pelens seisM her, slmoberiug while she lay,
And org"d tut suit with all that love could My.
But when he found her obstinately coy,
Resolv'd to force her, and command the joy:
The nymph, o'erpowerd, to art tor snecottr flies,
And various sliapes the eager youth surprises
A bird she teem*, but plies her wines in vain ;
His hands the fliiettns; sabs tance Mill detain ;
A branchy tree high in the air she grew ;
About its bark bit nimble anna he threw :
A tiger next «b« glare*. with flaming eyes ;.
The fiigkten'd lover quita hit hold, and flies.
The sea-gods he with aacred rile* adores,
Then a libation, on the ocean pours ;
While (be tat entail* erackle in the ftrt>
And abeaU of laaoke in tweet perfame aspire (
Till Protean, ruing from oil ooay bed,
Thaa to die poor desponding lover Mid :
■ Noruorcinanxicutinnr^tsyonrBrfaderaploTT
For yet yon shall posse* the dear expected Joy. ,
34 oyid's MrrAWWPHous. Bmk
You must once more the* unwary ■yaupli swrpi
As in ber coory grot she f feathering lies ;
Then bind ber fast with unrelentiiig buds,
And strain her tender limbs with knotted bam
Still bold her under every different shape,
Till, uVd, die tries no longer to escape'
Thus be: — then tank beneath the glassy flood
And broken accents fluttered where lie stood.
Bright Sol had almost now hb journey done
And down the steepy western convex ran ;
When the fair Nereid left the briny ware,
And, as she us'd, retreated to ber cave.
He scarce had bound ber fist, when she arose,
And into various shapes her body throws :
She went to move her arms, and found 'em tied
Then with a sigh, ' Some god assists ye V cried
And in her proper shape stood blushing by h
side.
About her waist this longing arms he flung,
From which embrace the great Achilles sprun;
THE TRANSFORM ATI OK OF DiEDALlOH.
Pelens unmiz'd felicity enjoyM ;
(Bless'd in a valiant son and virtuous bride)
Till fortune did in blood his hands imbrue,
And his own brother by curs' d chance he slew
Then driven from Thessaly, his native clime,
Trachinia first gave shelter to his crime ;
Where peaceful Ceyz mildly fill'd the throne,
And like his sire, the morning-planet, shone;
But now, unlike himself, bedew'd with tears,
Mourning a brother lost, bis brow appears.
First to the town, with travel spent and care,
~* " and his small company repair :
Ifaftfc 11. OVID'* METAMORPHOSES. 55
His herds and flocks the while at leisure feed
On the rich pasture of a neighbouring mead.
The prince, before the royal presence brought,
Show'd by the suppliant olive what he sought ;
Then tells his name, and race, and country right,
But hides the' unhappy reason of his flight
He begs the king some little town to give.
Where they may safe his faithful vassals live.
Ceyx replied : * To all my bounty flows ;
A hospitable realm your suit has chose.
Your glorious race, and far-resounding fame,
And grandsire Jove, peculiar favours claim*
All you can wish, I grant ; intreaties spare; [share.'
My kingdom (wonld 'twere worth the sharing !)
Tears stop'd his speech : astonished Peleus pleads
To know the cause from whence bis grief proceeds?
The prince replied : ' There's none of ye but deems
This hawk was ever such as now it seems ;
Know, 'twas a hero once, Dasdalion nam'd,
For warlike deeds and haughty valour fam'd ;
Like me, to that bright luminary born
Who wakes Aurora, and brings on the morn.
His fierceness still remains, and love of blood,
Now dread of birds, and tyrant of the wood.
My make was softer; peace my greatest care;
But this my brother, wholly bent on war :
Late nations fcarM, and routed armies fled
That force which now the timorous pigeons dread.
A daughter he possess'd, divinely fair,
And scarcely yet had seen her fifteenth year ;
Young Chione : a thousand rivals strove
To win the maid, and teach her how to love.
Phoebus and Mercury by chance, one day,
From Delphi and Cyllene pass'd this way; '
56
."- ftp ^&£**C2j ■
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 57
he funeral pile he saw her laid,
to rush into the flames assay'd,
th officious care by as was stay*d.
with grief, away he fled amain,
ng heifer that resents the pain,
wing wildly bounds along the plain.
lost rugged ways so fast he ran,
a bird already, not a man ;
breathless all behind ; and now
f death had gain'd Parnassus' brow :
from thence headlong himself he threw,
t, but with airy pinions flew,
i pity chang'd him to a fowl, [trol. }
toked beak and claws the birds con- >
)ulk, but of a warlike soul. 3
ecome, the feathered race's foe,
) ease his own by others* woe/
WOLF TURNED INTO MARBLE.
m
iey, astonish*d, beard the king relate
iders of his hapless brother's fate;
j*s herdsman at the court arrives,
surprise to all the audience gives,
i, Peleus ! dreadful news I bear/
ind trembled as he spoke, for fear.
:, affrighted Peleus- bid him tell,
fx too grew pale with friendly ceaL
igan : * When Sol mid-heaven had gain'd,
lis way was pass'd, and half remain'd,
vel shore my cattle drove,
em freely in the meadows rove.
:ch'd at length admire the watry plain,
'd the herb, some wanton swam the main.
I
rand,}
58 Ovid's MRAMomraotBs. Am* 11.
A temple stands of antique make hard by.
Where no gilt domes nor marble lore the eye ;
Unpolish'd rafters bear its lowly height,
Hid by a grove, as ancient, from the sight.
Here Nerens and the Nereids they adore j
I learnt it from the man who thither bore
His net, to dry it on the sonny shore.
Adjoins a lake, inclos'd with willows round,
Whereswelling waves have overnWdthe mo
And, muddy, stagnate on the lower ground,
From thence a rushing noise increasing flies.
Strikes the still shore, and frights as with
Straight a huge wolf rush'd from the marshy woH
His jaws besmear*d with mingled foam and b!os4
Though equally by hanger arg*d and rage,
His appetite he minds not to assuage ;
Nought that he meets his rabid fury spares.
But the whole herd with mad disorder tears.
Some of our men, who strove to drive him these*,
Torn by his teeth, have died in their defence.
The echoing lakes, the sea, and fields, and shore,
Impurpled blush with streams of reeking gore.
Delay is loss, nor have we time for thought ;
While yet some few remain alive, we ought
To seize our arms, and with confederate force
Try if we so can stop his bloody course.
But Peleus car*d not for his rnin'd herd ;
His crime he calfd to mind, and thence inferM,
That Psamathe's revenge this havoc made,
In sacrifice to murder1 d Phocus' shade.
The king commands his servants to their arms ;
Resolv'd to go ; but the loud noise alarms
His lovely queen, who from her chamber flew,
And her half-plaited hair behind her threw :
Book 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 59
Aboat his neck she hung with loving fears,
And now with words, and now with pleading tears,
Intreated that he'd send his men alone,
And stay himself, to save two lives in one.
Then Peleus : * Your just fears, O queen ! forget :
Too much the offer leaves me in your debt
No arms against the monster I shall bear,
But the sea-nymphs appease with humble prayY.'
The citadel's high turrets pierce the sky,
Which home-bound vessels, glad, from far descry ;
This they ascend, and thence with sorrow ken
The mangled heifers lie, and bleeding men;
The' inexorable ravager they view,
With blood discolour'd, still the rest pursue :
There Peleus pray'd submissive tow'rds the sea,
And deprecates the ire of injur'd Psaraathe.
But deaf to all his prayers the nymph remain'd,
Till Thetis for her spouse the boon obtain'd.
Pleas'd with the luxury, the furious beast,
Unstop'd, continues still his bloody feast :
While yet upon a sturdy bull he flew,
Chang'd by the nymph, a marble block he grew.
No longer dreadful now the wolf appears,
Buried in stone, and vanished like their fears*
Yet still the fates unhappy Peleus vex'd ;
To the Magnesian shore he wanders next.
Acastus there, who rul'd the peaceful clime,
Grants his request, and expiates his crime.
THE STORY OF CEYX AND ALCYONE.
BY DRYDEK,
These prodigies affect the pious prince ;
But, more perplex'd with those that happened since,
rrft OVID"» MBTAMDBPItMH.
He purpose* to welt the Clarian cod,
Avoiding Delphi, his more faa'dabade
Since Phrygian robbers made uut A
Vet could he not from her beloWx
The fatal voyage, be niohM, conceal;
But when abe saw her lord prrp«r*d io ,_.
A dr Mil I y raid ran shi k ring to her heart ;
Her faded cheeks are eJiarur'd to b.
And in her eyes the tears ore ever _
She thrirc essay'd to speak ; her accroB ai _
And faltering died hnfirmn-d on her tone",
Or vanisb'd into signs : with long delay
Her voice retum'd, and fbnrjd the wonted *»> J
'Tell me, my lord/ she said, ~ what ran!) in"
Thy once, belov'd Alcyone has done I
Whither, ah, whither, is thy kindness goofl
Can Ceyx then sustain to leave fais wife,
And unconcern'd forsake the sweets ot life!
What can iliy mind to lliis long journey mo*
Or need's! tliou ibMH to renew thy lore?
Yet if thou go'si by land, though grief pone* I
My sonl ev'n then, my fears will be the leu.
Hut, ah ! be. warn'd to shun the watry way,
The fare is frightful of the stormy sea ;
For late 1 saw adrift disjointed planks,
And empty tombs erected on the bankf.
Nor let false hopes to trust betray tby mind,
Because my sire in i-nvc* constrains the wind,
Can with a breath their clamorous rage appear,
They fear his whistle, and forsake the seas:
Not so ; for once indulg'd, they sweep the main.
Deaf to the call, or, hearing, hear in rain ;
But bent on mischief bear the waves before,
And, net content with seas, insult the shore,
11. OVID'8 METAMORPHOSES. 61
ocean, air, and earth, at once engage,
toted forests fly before their rage :
e the dashing clouds to battle move,
ghtnings ran across the fields above.
• them well, and mark'd their rade comport,
yet a child within my father's court :
» of tempests they command alone,
> but sits precarious on the throne :
ore I know, the more my fears augment;
are are oft prophetic of the' event.
not fears or reasons will prevail,
has nVd thee obstinate to sail,
without thy wife; but let me bear
rt of danger with an equal share,
-esent, what I suffer only fear :
>'er the bounding billows shall we fly,
to live together, or to die.*
e reasons raov'd her starlike husband's heart,
II he held his purpose to depart :
he lov'd her equal to bis life,
aid not to the seas expose his wife ;
uld be wrought his voyage to refrain,
ight by arguments to soothe her pain.
ese avail'd : at length he lights on one,
rbich so difficult a cause he won :
>ve, so short an absence cease to fear ;
my father's holy flame I swear,
two moons their orb with light adorn,
ven allow me life, 1 will return.'
promise of so short a stay prevails ;
n equips the ship, supplies the sails,
ves the word to launch : she trembling views
>mp of death, and parting tears renews ;
I
<>• OVID'S II L V 1 KORPflOSM. il»
Last with akiss,»be took a long faremll,
Sigh'd with a sad presage, and swaontn; SA
Wiiilc Ceyx seeks delays, the lusty cnir, ,
Raisd on their banks, their wars in order dm I
To their broad breasts, the ship with fuji")
The queen, recover1*), rears her humid tjts.
And first her busbaud on the poop espies,
-Stuikin- hi- ham! at distance on the main;
She took the sign, and shook her himi is^-
Still as Die ground recedes, contracts beni(«
With sharpen'd sight, till she no longer U*'
The mar li-lov'd face; that comfort lost sippfc
With less, an J with the galley feeds her eya:
The galley borne from view by rising gain,
Shefoilowil with her sight the flying srib :
Wben ev'n tlic flying sails were seen no more,
Forsaken of ail sight she left the shore.
Then on her bridal bed her body throwi,
Anrt sought in sleep her wearied eyes to clo«c;
Her husband's pillow, and the widow VI part
Which ouee lie press'd, renew'd the former unart
And now a breeze from shore began to blov.
The sailors ship their oars, and cense to rawi
Then hoist their yards a-trip, and all their sii
Let fall, to court tlie wind and catch the gain:
By this the vessel half her course had run;
And as much ic-wl lill tlie rising sun ■
Both shores were lost to sight, when at the cl
Of day a stiffer gale at east arose ;
The sea grew white, tbe rolling waves From far,
Like heralds, first denounce the wat'ry war.
This seen, the master soon began to cry,
' Strike,strike the top-sail; let the main sheet flj,
Bo«k 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 6&
And furl your sails.' The winds repel the sound,
And in the speaker's mouth the speech is drown'd.
Yet of their own accord, as danger taught
Each in bis way, officiously they wrought:
Some stow their oars, or stop the leaky sides,
Another bolder yet the yard bestrides,
And folds the sails; a fourth with labour laves
The' intruding seas, and waves ejects on waves.
In this confusion while their work they ply,
The winds augment the winter of the sky,
And wage intestine wars ; the suffering seas
Are toss'd and mingled as their tyrants please.
The master would command, but in despair
Of safety, stands amai'd with stupid care,
Nor what to bid, or what forbid, he knows,
The' ungovero'd tempest to such fury grows :
Vain is his force, and vainer is hit skill ;
With such a concourse comes the flood of ill ;
The cries of men are mix'd with rattling shrowds ;
Seas dash on seas, and clouds encounter clouds:
At once from east to west, from pole to pole,
The forky lightnings flash, the roaring thunders roll.
Now waves on waves ascending scale the skies,
And in the fires above the water tries :
When yellow sands are sifted from below,
The glittering billows give a golden show :
And when the fouler bottom shows the black,
The Stygian dye the tainted waters take :
Then frothy white appear the flatted seas,
And change their colour, changing their disease.
Like various fits the Trachian vessel finds :
And now sublime she rides upon the winds;
As from a lofty summit, looks from high,
And from the clouds beholds the nether sky.
64 OflBTf MET!
Now fna the depth of hell they fift
Aad at a dwf rr see
Tae lashiag tallows
And beat her skies* as battering
Or, as ahoa hounding in dm way,
With force aagmeated, bean agasnst his prey,
osdeloag to setae; or,
Spriass oa the toils, and
So seas impeffd by whan
Aassslt the sides, and o'er the hafrhet tawY.
TVe planks (their pitchy coverings waaa'd away)
Now yield ; and sow a yawning breach display :
The roaring waters with a hostile tide
Rash through the rains of her gapsag side.
Meantime, in sheets of rain the sky
Aad ocean, sweiTd with waters, upwards
One rising, falling one, the Heavi
Meet at their confines, in the middle way : [i
The sails are drank with showers, and drop with
Sweet waters mingle with the briny main*
No star appears to lead bis rneadry light ;
Darkness and tempest make a doable night;
Bat flashing fires disclose the deep by tons,
And while the lightnings blaze, the water barm.
Now all the wares their scatter*d force anite ;
And as a soldier, foremost in the fight,
Makes way for others, and an host alone
Still presses on, and urging gains the town ;
So while the* invading billows come abreast,
The hero tenth advanc'd before the rest,
Sweeps all before him with impetuous sway,
And from the walls descends upon the prey :
Part following enter, part remain without,
With envy hear their fellows' conquering shout,
\
Book 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 65
And mount on others backs, in hopes to share
The city, thus become the seat of war.
An universal cry resounds aloud,
The sailors run in heaps, a helpless crowd ;
Art fails, and courage falls, no succour near ;
As many waves, as many deaths appear.
One weeps, and yet despairs of late relief;
One cannot weep, his fears congeal his grief,
But, stupid, with dry eyes expects his fate :
One with loud shrieks laments his lost estate,
And calls those happy whom their funerals wait.
This wretch with prayers and vows the gods
implores,
And ev'n the skies he cannot see, adores.
That other on his friends his thoughts bestows,
His careful father, and his faithful spouse.
The covetous worldling, in his anxious mind,
^Thinks only on the wealth he left behind.
All Ceyx his Alcyone employs,
For her he grieves, yet in her absence joys :
His wife he wishes, and would still be near,
Not her with him, but wishes him with her :
Now with last looks he seeks his native shore,
Which fate has destin'd him to see no more ;
He sought, but in the dark tempestuous night
He knew not whither to direct his sight
So whirl the seas, such darkness blinds the sky,
That tlie black night receives a deeper dye.
The giddy ship ran round ; the tempest tore
Her mast, and over-board the rudder bore.
One billow mounts, and with a scornful brow,
Proud of her conquest gain'd, insults the waves
Nor lighter falls, than if some giant tore [below \
Pindus-and Atlios, with the freight they bore,
4
66
OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS. Bbofc 1
7
And toss'd on seat; pressed with the pondrons bk
Down sinks the ship within the* abyss below:
Down with the vessel sink into the main
The many, never more to rise again.
Some few on scatter'd planks, with fruitless ca
Lay hold, and swim ; bnt while they swim, desp
Ev'n he, who late a sceptre did command.
Now grasps a floating fragment m his band :
And while he struggles on the stormy main,
Invokes his rather and his wire in vain.
But yet his consort is his greatest care,
Alcyone he names amidst his pray*r ;
Names as a charm against the waves and wind
Most in his mouth, and ever in his mind.
Tirt) with his toil, all hopes of safety past.
From prayers to wishes he descends at last;
That bis dead body, waited to the sands,
Might have its burial from her friendly hands.
As oft as he can catch a gulp of air,
And peep above the seas, he names the lair ;
And ev'n when plung'd beneath, on her he ravi
Murmuring Alcyone below the waves :
At last a railing billow stops his breath,
Breaks o'er his head, and whelms him nndernei
Bright Lucifer unlike himself appears
That night, his heavenly form obscured with teai
And since he was forbid to leave the skies,
He muffled with a cloud his mournful eyes.
Meantime Alcyone (bis fate unknown)
Computes how many nights he had been gone ;
Observes the waning moon with hourly view,
Numbers her age, and wishes for a new ;
Against the promis'd time provides with care,
And hastens in the woof the robes he was to wei
}
Book 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 6f
And for her self employs another loom, \
New dress'd to meet her lord returning home, f
Flattering her heart with joys that never were I
to come : )
She fum'd the temples with an odorous flame,
And oft before the sacred altars came,
To pray for him who was an empty name.
All powers implor'd, but far above the rest
To Juno she her pious vows address'd,
Her much-lov'd lord from perils to protect;
And safe o'er seas his voyage to direct :
Then pray'd, that she might still possess his heart,
And no pretending rival share a part :
This last petition heard of all her pray'r,
The rest, dispers'd by winds, were lost in air.
But she, the goddess of the nuptial bed,
Tir'd with her vain devotions for the dead,
Resolv'd the tainted hand should be repell'd,
Which incense offer'd, and her altar held :
Then Iris thus bespoke: — 'Thou faithful maid,
By whom thy queen's commands are well convey'd,
Haste to the house of Sleep ; and bid the god
Who rules the night by visions with a nod,
Prepare a dream, in figure and in form
Resembling him who perish'd in the storm ;
This form before Alcyone present,
To make her certain of the sad event.'
Indued with robes of various hue she flies,
And flying draws an arch, (a segment of the skies :)
Then leaves her bending bow, and from the steep
Descends, to search the silent house of Sleep.
r
OVID'S SETA
THE HOC5 E OF SLEEP.
Sear the ri«Bfrii», in kit
D*ep in a cavern, dwell* the diuwty god ;
Whose gloomy maoMOB, nor Ike
Nor letting, visits , nor the
Bat lazy vapours roand the region fly,
PerpeUaU twifigfat, and a donbtral akj.
No erowins cock does there Ids wia^n display
Nor with bis horny bill provoke the day ;
Nor watchful doer, nor the asore wakeral gee
I Distnib with nightly noise the sacred pence :
Nor beast of nature, nor the tame are nigh,
Nor trees with tempests rock'd, nor bonsai a
Bat sale repose withoat an air of breath
Dwells here, and a dnmb quiet next to death.
An arm of Letbe, with a gentle flow
Arising upward* from the rock below.
The palace moats, and o'er the pebbles creep
And with soft murmurs calls the «""»in^ *leef
Around its entry nodding poppies grow,
And all cool simples that sweet rest bestow ;
Night from the plants their sleepy virtue dirna
And, passing, sheds k on the silent plains :
No door there was the* unguarded house to ki
On creaking hinges turn'd, to break his sleep.
But in the gloomy court was rak'd a bed,
StatTd with black plumes, and on an ebon-ste
Black was the covering too where lay trie god
And slept supine, his limbs display 'd abroad :
About his bead fantastic visions fly,
Which various images of things supply,
And mock their forms; the leaves on tree&aotn
Nor bearded ears in fields, nor sands upon the sb
Book 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 69
The virgin entering bright, indulged the day
To the brown cave, and brush'd the dreams away :
The god disturb'd with this new glare of light,
Cast sudden on his face, unseal'd his sight,
And rais'd his tardy head, which sunk again,
And sinking on his bosom knock'd his chin ;
At length shook off himself, and ask'd the dame,
(And asking, yawn'd) for what intent she came ?
To whom the goddess thus : * O sacred rest,
Sweet pleasing Sleep, of all the powers the best!
O peace of mind, repairer of decay,
Whose balms renew the limbs to labours of the
day,
Care shuns thy softapproach, and sullen flies away!
Adorn a dream, expressing human form,
The shape of him who suffer^ in the storm,
And send it flitting to the Trachin court,
The wreck of wretched Ceyx to report :
Before his queen bid the pale spectre stand,
Who begs a vain relief at Juno's hand.'
She said, and scarce awake her eyes could keep,
Unable to support the fumes of Sleep ;
But fled, returning by the way she went,
And swerv'd along her bow with swift ascent.
The god, uneasy till he slept again,
Resolv'd at once to rid himself of pain ;
And, though against his custom, call'd aloud,
Exciting Morpheus from the sleepy crowd :
Morpheus, of all his numerous train, express'd
The shape of man, and imitated best ; .
The walk, the words, the gesture could supply
The habit mimic, and the mien belye;
Plays well, but all his action is confin'd,
Extending not beyond our human kind.
vol. in. F
r
>
rO OTID'S METAMOSPHOSBS. B—kll.
Another, birds and beasts and dragons apes.
And dreadful images, and monster shapes :
This demon, Icelos, in Heaven's high hall
The gods have nam'd ; bat men Phobetor calL
A third is Phantasos, whose actions roll
On meaner thought*, and things devoid of soul ;
Earth, fruits, and flowers, be represents in dreams,
And solid rocks unmov'd, and running streams.
These three to kings and chiefs their scenesdisnlay,
The rest before the' ignoble commotis play.
Of these the chosen Morpheus is dispatch'd ;
Which done, the lazy monarch, over-watch'd,
Down from his propping elbow drop* his head,
Dissolv'd in sjeep, and shrinks within his bed.
Darkling the demon glides, for flight prepaid,
So soft, that scarce his fanning wings are heard.
To Trachin, swift as thought, the flitting shade
Through air his momentary journey made :
Then lays aside the steerage of his wings,
Forsakes his proper form, assumes the kings ;
And pale as death, despond of his array,
Into the queen's apartment takes his way.
And stands before the bed at dawn of day :
Unmov'd bis eyes, and wet bis beard appears ;
And shedding vain, but seeming real tears ;
The briny waters dropping from his hairs.
Then staring on her with a ghastly look,
And hollow voice, he thus the queen bespoke :
* Know'st thou not me? Not yet, unhappy wife?
Or are my features perish'd with my life ?
Look' once again, and for thy husband lost,
Lo, all that's left of him, thy husband's ghost !
Thy yows for my return were all in vain,
The stormy south o'ertook us in the main,
And never *Y\a\i thou **e thy living Lord again
I
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Book 11. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 71
Bear witness, Heaven ! I call'd on thee in death,
And while I call'd a billow stop'd my breath.
Think not that flying fame reports my fate ;
I present, I appear, and my own wreck relate.
Rise, wretched widow, rise ; nor undeplorM
Permit my soul to pass the Stygian ford ;
Bat rise, prepared in black, to mourn thy pe-
rish'd lord.
Thus said the player-god ; and adding art
Of voice and gesture, so perform'd his part,
She thought (so like her love the shade appears)
That Ceyx spake the words, that Ceyx shed toe
tears:
She groan'd, her inward soul with grief oppress'd,
She sigh'd,she wept, and, sleeping, beat her breast j
Then stretch'd her arms t'embrace his body bare j
Her clasping arms inclose but empty air ;
At this, not yet awake, she cried, ' O stay :
One is our fate, and common is onr way !'
So dreadful was the dream, so loud she spoke,
That starting sudden up, the slumber broke ;
Then cast her eyes around, in hope to view
Her vanish'd lord, and find the vision true :
For now the maids, who waited her commands,
Ran in with lighted tapers in their hands.
Tir'd with the search, not finding what she seeks,
"With cruel blows she pounds her blubbered cheeks ;
Then from her beaten breast the linen tare,
And cut the golden caul that bound her hair,,
Her nurse demands the cause; with louder cries
She prosecutes her griefs, and thus replies:
* No more Alcyone ; she suffered death
With her lov'd lord, when Ceyx lost his breath :
No flattery, no false comfort, give me none \
My shipwreck'd Ceyx is for ever ^o\ie *.
And ILt I beg"*, ^ J?*-* to pa*t i
I tooV my »ea»e, "" ^a to rt«y,
Never. * ■£* ^ tf ^ *^ «^«to'.'.
Happier for ■%:£*. e»1i «»tm1°ir^
^Uttwr we bad UV« , ttttog ^e,
And "J iZ were not w crue ^» ^^
The .torm^ •»* d gocn a gr«* ^ ^
Yf „ot one co««"D **".* ia»t rem***,
»or.igh»coroetB*^g
Bllok 11. OVJlVl METAMORPHOSES. 73
And stop'd lifr ton guc ; but what her ton gne denied,
Soft td ars , an d poans ,aud dumb com plaints supplied.
Twa> morning : to tlie port she takes her way,
And stands upon the margin of die sea :
That place, tbat very spot of ground she sought,
Or thither by her destiny was brought,
Where last he stood: and while she sadly said, J
' 'Twas here he left me, lingering here delay'd v
His parting kiss, and there hi* anchors weigh'd.' )
Thus speaking, while her thoughts past actions
And call to mind, admonish'd by the place, [trace,
Sharp at her utmost ken she cast her eyes,
And somewhat floating from afar descries :
It seems a corps a-drift, to distant sight.
But at a distance who could judge aright f
It wafted nearer yet, and then she knew,
That what before she butsurmis'd, was true:
A corps it was, but whose it was, unknown ;
Yet moT"d howe'er, she made the case her own :
Took die bad omen of a ship wreck 'd man,
Aa for a stranger wept, and thus began :
' Poor wretch! on stormy seas to lose thy life;
Unhappy thou, but more thy widow-wife,'
At this she paus'd : — For now the flowing tide
Had bronght the body nearer to the side :
The more she looks, the more her rears increase,
At nearer sight ; and she's herself the leas.
Now driv'ri ashore, and at her feet it lies,
She known too much, in knowing whom she sees ;
Her husband's corps 1 — at this she loudly shrieks,
' Tis he, 'tis be!' she cries, and tears her cheeks,
Her hair, and vest; and, stooping to the sands.
About his neck she cast her trembling hands.
' And is it thus, O dearer than my lift I
Thus, thus return'st thou to thy longing wife '*
fc
74 OVID't METAMORPHOSES. &•* 11.
She said, and to the neighbouring mole she strodi
(Rais'd there to bnak the' iiicnrsions of the flood
Headlong from hence to plunge beraelfsbespringt,-
Bot shoots along, supported on her wings;
A bird new-made, about the bonks she plies,
Not far from shore, and short excursion* tries ;
Nor seeks in air her humble flight to raise,
Content to skim the surface of the seas :
Her mil, though slender, sends a creaking noise
And imitates a lamentable voice.
Now lighting where the bloodless body ties,
She with a funeral note renews her cries :
At all her stretch, her little wings she spread,
And with ber feather*d arms embracM the dead
Then flickering to bis palid lips, she strove
To print a kiss, the last essay of lore.
Whether the vital touch reviv'd the dead,
Or that the moving waters rais'd his head
To meet the kiss, the vulgar doubt alone ;
For sure a present miracle was shown :
The gods their shapes to winter-birds translate,
But both obnoxious to their former fate.
Their conjugal affection still is tied,
And still the mournful race is multiplied :
They bill, they tread ; Alcyone compressed,
Seven days sits brooding on her floating nest ',
A wintry queen! her sire at length is kind,
Calms every storm, and hushes every wind ;
Prepares his empire for his daughter's ease,
And for his hatching nephews smoothes the sei
JESACUS TRANSFORMED INTO A CORMORANT
These, some old man sees wanton in the air,
And praises the unhappy constant pair :
tiook Hi OVID'S METAMORPHOSE^. 1$
Then to bis friend thelong-neck'd Cormorantshowsy
The former tale reviving others woes :
1 That sable bird/ he cries, * which cuts the flood
With slender legs, was once of royal blood ;
His ancestors from mighty Tros proceed,
The brave Laomedon and Ganymede,
(Whose beauty tempted Jove to steal the boy)
And Priam, hapless prince ! who fell with Troy :
Himself was Hector's brother, and (had fate
But given this hopeful youth a longer date)
Perhaps had rival'd warlike Hector's worth,
Though on the mother's side of meaner birth j
Fair Alyxothoe, a country maid,
Bare ASsacus by stealth in Ida's shade.
He fled the noisy town, and pompous court,
Lov'd the lone hills, and simple rural sport,
And seldom to the city would resort.
Yet he no rnstic clowuishness profess'd,
Nor was soft love a stranger to his breast :
The youth had lone the nymph Hesperie woo'dy
Oft through the1 thicket or the mead pursued ;
Her haply on her father's bank he spied,
While fearless she her silver tresses dry'd ;
Away she fled : not stags with half such speedy
Before the prowling wolf, scud o'er the mead ;
Not ducks, when they the safer flood forsake,-
Pursued by hawks, so swift regain the lake*
As fast he follow'd in the hot career ;
Desire the lover wing*d ; the' virgin, fear.
A snake unseen now pierc'd her heedless foot;
Quick through the veins the venom'd juices shoot:
She fell, and 'scap'd by death his fierce pursuit'
Her lifeless body, frighted, he embraced,
And cried, ' Not this I dreaded, but thy basle s
r
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76
OTID's METAMORPHOSES. Bm
O had my lore been less, or less thy fear!
The victory, thus bought, is far too dear.
Accursed snake ! yet I more cms'd than he !
He gave the wound ; the cause was gWn hy
Yet none shall say, that nnrevengM yon died
He spoke ; then ctimb'd a cliff's o'er hanging si
And, resolute, leap'd on the foaming tide :
Tethys receiv'd him gently on the ware ;
The death he sought denied, and feathers gv
Debar'd the rarest remedy of grief,
And forc'd to live, he cursM the* onaak'd reli
Then on his airy pinions upward flies,
And at a second fall successless tries ;
The downy plume a quick descent denies.
Earag'd, he often dives beneath the wave,
And there in vain expects to find a grave.
His ceaseless sorrow for the' unhappy maid
MeagerM his look, and on his spirits prey'd :
Still near the sounding deep he lives ; his mu
From frequent diving and emergmg came.'
J
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK XIL
TRANSLATED BY DRYDEN.
THE TROJAN WAR.
Priam, to whom the story was unknown.
As dead, deplor'd his metaraorphos'd son :
A Cenotaph his name and title kept, [wept.
And Hector round the tomb, with all bis brothers,
This pions office Paris did not share ;
Absent alone, and author of the war,
Which, for the Spartan queen, the Grecians drew
To' avenge the rape ; and Asia to subdue.
A thousand ships were mamfd, to sail the sea; 1
Nor had their just resentments found delay, >
Had not the winds and waves oppos'd their way. J
At Aulis, with united powers they meet ;
But there, cross winds or calms detained the fleet.
Now, while they raise an altar on the shore,
And Jove with solemn sacrifice adore ;
A boding sign the priests and people see :
A snake of size immense ascends a tree,
And in the leafy summit spied a nest,
Which o'er a callow young a sparrow press'd.
Eight were the birds unfledg'd; their mother flew,
And hover'd round her care ; but still in view :
78
Till the fierce rep(D« first dnom-d t
Then senM the flattering te, and dn
Tbii dire intent the fearthl people vi
dldM alone, by Pbcebai tansjht, fo
What heaven decreed ; and with a m
Thai iralnlates to Greece her bappj
' O Argives! we shall compter : Tn
Bat long delays shall first afflict ov
Nine yean of labour the trine bird*
The tenth shall in the town's deitTDc
The serpent, who his naw obaeen
The branches in hi) enrf d embrace*
But, as in spires be stood, be tnm*d
The stouv snake «: tain'd the fignre i
Yet, not for this, the wiud-botmd
Slack were their sails ; aad Neptan
Some thowghthini loth the town shoal
Whose building bad hu hand* divine
Not so the seer, who knew, and knot
The virgin Phoebe with a virgin's bh
Most first be reconcil'd. The conn
PrevaiTd ; and pity yielding to the L
Pair Iphigenia the devoted maid
Was, by the weeping priests, in linen
All mourn her fete, bnt no relief ip|
The royal victim booml, the knife al
When that offended power, who can
Relenting ceaa'd her wralh; and ato|
A mLit before the ministers she cast.
And, in the virgin's room, a hind sin
The' oblation shun, and Pbiebe recbt
The storm was hush J, and dimpled <
A favourable gate arose from shore,
Which to the port desifd the Green
Book 12. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES* 79
THE HOUSE OF FAME.
Full in the midst of this created space, [place,
Betwixt heaven, earth, and skies, there stands a
Confining on all three, with triple bound ;
Whence all things, though remote, are view'd
around,
And thither bring their undulating sound.
The palace of loud Fame, her seat of pow'r,
Plac'd on the summit of a lofty towT ;
A thousand winding entries long and wide,
Receive of fresh reports a flowing tide :
A thousand crannies in the walls are made;
Nor gate, nor bars, exclude the busy trade.
Tis built of brass, the better to diffuse
The spreading sounds, and multiply the news >
Where echoes in repeated echoes play :
A mart for ever full, and open night and day.
Nor silence is within, nor voice express,
But a deaf noise of sounds, that never cease.
Confus'd, and chiding, like the hollow roar
Of tides receding from the* insulted shore.
Or like the broken thunder heard from far,
When Jove to distance drives the rolling war.
The courts are fill'd with a tumultuous din
Of crowds, or issuing forth or ent'ring in :
A thorough-fare of news ; where some devise
Things never heard, some mingle truth with lies :
The troubled air with empty sounds they beat,
Intent to hear, and eager to repeat.
Error sits brooding there, with added train
Of vain credulity, and joys as vain :
Suspicion, with Sedition join'd, are near, [fear*
And rumours rais'd, and murmurs mix'd, and panic
K« ovitfi ntumm
Fame sits aloft, and sees tbe suhj
And ten about^nd skies abo.c,raq
The goddess sites die' iiLinn; ■
Tbe Grecjsn fleet descending on i
lln'ii on defence, tbe Trojaoi we
To guard their shore, from u ez|
They meat in fight : by Hector's
Which with expense of blood' the
And prov'd the strength unknown
And to their coat tbe Trojan lewi
Tbe Grecian heroes ; and what d
From these first onsets, tbe Sis;
Was strew'd with carcase*, and al
Neptunian Cygnus troops of Gra
Achilles in his car had scoor'd the
And chaWd the Trojan ranks. Wl
Cygnus, or Hector, through the fii
Cygnus he found; on him bis fori
For Hector was to the tenth year
His white- many steeds,that how'd 1
He cbeer'd to courage with a gen'
Then nrg/d his fiery chariot on thi
And, rising, shook his lance, in at
But first be cried, • O youth 1 be
Thy death, ennobled by Pelides' i
The Isnce pursued the v< '
Nor did the w"
Book It. OVID'S METAMOBPHOSBI. Ill
This helm and heavy buckler I can spare,
As only decorations of the war :
So Mars is arm d for glory, not for need.
'Tis somewhat more from Neptune to proceed,
Than from a daughter of the sea to spring :
Thy sire is mortal ; mine is ocean's king ■
Secure of. death, I should contemn thy dart,
Though naked, and impassible depart ?'
He said, and threw : the trembling weapon pass'd 1
Through nine bull-hides, each under other plac'd, >
On his broad shield ; and stuck within the last. )
Achilles wrench'd it out ; and sent again
The hostile gift : the hostile gift was Tain.
He tried a third, a tough well-chosen spear ;
The' inviolable body stood sincere;
Though Cygnus then did no defence provide,
But scornful offerM Ids unshielded side.
Not otherwise the' impatient hero far'd,
Than as a bull incompass'd with a guard,
Amid the circus roars, provok'd from far
By sight of scarlet, and a sanguine war :
They qnit their ground, his bended horns elude ;
In vain pursuing, and in vain pursued.
Before to further fight he would advance,
He stood considering, and survey'd his lance :
Doubts if he wielded not a wooden spear
Without a point ; he look'd, the point was there.
' This is my hand, and this my lance,' he said, *
1 By which to many thousand foes are dead,
0 whither is their usual virtue Bed I
1 had it once ; and the Ljrnessian wall,
And Tenedos, confess'd it in their fall.
Thy streams, Cai'cus, roll'd ■ crimsou-flo
And Thebes ran red with her own natives' blood.
said, i
I
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■
I
.1
f
)
89
OTIITS XETAVORPHOft]
Bm
Twice Telepbin employM their piercing it
To wound him first, and afterward to h— 1-
The rigour of this arm was oerer vain :
And that my wonted proweai I retain,
Witness these heaps of slaughter on the pi
He said ; and, doubtful of his former deed
To some new trial of bis force proceeds.
He chose Menetes from among the rest;
At him he launch'd his spear, and piercM fast
On the hard earth the Lyeian knock'd his I
And lay supine ; and forth the spirit fled.
Then thus the hero : ' Neither can I bin
The hand, or javelin ; both are still the am
The same I will employ against this foe,
And wish but with the same success to thn
So spoke the chief; and while he spoke he
The weapon with unerring fury flew,
At bis left shoulder aira'd : nor entrance f<
But back, as from a rock, with swift reboi
Harmless return'd : a bloody mark appear**
Which with raise joy the flatterM hero cbec
Wound there was none; the blood that
The lance before from slain Memetes drew
Headlong he leaps from off his lofty
And in close fight on foot renews the
Raging with high disdain, repeats his blowi
Nor shield, nor armour can their force opg
Huge cantlets ■ of his buckler strew the gi
And no defence in his borM arms is found.
But on his flesh no wound or blood is seen
The sword itself is blunted on the skin.
This vain attempt the chief no longer b<
But round his hollow temples and his ears
1 Fragments.
Book IS. OVID'S METAMORPHOSBS. 83
His buckler beats : the sod of Neptune, stua'd
With these repeated buffets, quits bis ground :
A sickly sweat succeeds, and shades of night;
Inverted nature swims before his sight :
the* insulting victor presses on the more,
And treads the steps the vanquished trod before ;
Nor rest, nor respite gives. A stone there lay
Behind his trembling foe, and stop'd his way :
Achilles took the* advantage which he (bond,
O'er-turn'd, and push'd him backward on the ground.
His buckler held him under, while he press*d,
With both his knees, above bis panting breast.
Unlac'd his helm : about his chin the twist
He tied ; and soon the strangled soul dismissed.
With eager haste he went to strip the dead :
The vamsh'd body from his arm was fled.
His sea-god sire, f immortalize his frame,
Had turn'd it to the bird that bears his name.
A truce succeeds the labours of this day,
And arms suspended with a long delay.
While Trojan walls are kept with watch and ward,
The Greeks before their trenches mount the guard :
The feast approached ; when to the blue-ey'd maid 1
His vows for Cygnus slain the victor paid, >
And a white heifer on her altar laid. 3
The reeking entrails on the fire they threw,
And to the gods the grateful odour flew.
Heaven had its part in sacrifice : the rest
Was broiPd and roasted for the future feast.
The chief-invited guests were set around ; 1
And hunger first assuaged, the bowls were crown'df
Which in deep draughts their cares and labours f
drown'd. 5
'il
il
k^
34 OYltff METAMOKFHOSKI. Bm
The mellow harp did not their ears employ
And mate wu all the warlike symphony :
Discourse, the food of souls, was their dd^
And pleasing chat prokrag'd the hiibim i'i i
The subject, deeds of arms j and Talonr sb
Or on the Trojan side or on their own.
Of dangers undertaken, fame adaeVd,
They talk'd by turns : the talk by terns rcl
What things but these could fierce Achilla
Or what could fierce Achilles bear so wefli
The last great act perform'd, of Cygnus sb
Did most the martial audience entertain :
Wondering to find a body free by fate
From steel ; and which could ev^i that steel i
Amaz'd, their adariration they renew;
And scarce Pelides cou'd believe it
THE STORY OF CANEU8.
Then Nestor thus: ' What once this i
In fated Cygnus, and in him alone, fj
These eyes have seen in Caeneos long befor
Whose body not a thousand swords could fa
Caeneus, in courage and in strength excell'i
And still his Othrys with his fame is filFd :
But what did most his martial deeds adorn,
(Though since be cbang'd his sex) a woman
A novelty so strange, and fall of fate,
His listening audience ask'd him to relate.
Achilles thus commends their common suit
4 O Father ! first for prudence in repute ;
Tell, with that eloquence, so much thy owi
What thou hast heard, or what of Caeneus k
What was he, whence his change of sex bef
What trophies, join'd in wars with thee, he
Book 12. OVID'S METAMORPHOSE*. 86
Who conquer'd him, and in what fatal strife
I'he youth, without a wound, could lose his life f*
Neleides then : ' Though tardy age and time
Have shrunk my sinews, and decayed my prime i •
Though much I have forgotten of my store,
Yet not exhausted, I remember more.
Of all that arms achiev'd, or peace designed,
That action stiH is fresher in my mind,
Than aught beside. If reverend age can-give
To faith a sanction, in my third I live.
Twas in my second century, I snrvey'd
Young Caenis, then a fair Thessalian maid :
Caenis the bright, was born to high command ;
A princess, and a native of thy land,
Divine Achilles ; every tongue proclaimed
Her beauty, and her eyes all hearts inflam'di
Peleus, thy sire, perhaps had sought her bed,
Among the rest ; but he had either led
Thy mother then ; or was by promise tied ;
But she to him, and all, alike her love dented/
It was her fortune once to take her way
Along the sandy margin of the sea :
The power of ocean viewM her as she pass'dy
And, lov'd as soon as seen, by force embrac'dV
So Fame reports. Her virgin-treasure seiz'd.
And his new joys, the ravisher so pleas'd,
That thus, transported, to the nymph he cried ; ,
* Ask what thou wilt, no prayer shall be denied/
This also Fame relates : the haughty fair,
Who not the rape ev'n of a god cou'd beaiy
This answer, proud, retufn'd; « To mighty wrongs'
A mighty recompense, of right, belongs.
Give me no more to suffer such a shame ;
But change the woman, for a better name *
VOL. III. Q
86 OTHrtM*
One gift for sJL» She ssrfd; aatiwafesfaf*
A stern, majestic, aaanly towe she teak.
A man she was: and, as the goishunl www,
TO Cssnem tunfd, who Gamis wh before.
To this the lover adds, witfaoot reqsert,
" No force of steel should violate his bresftV
Glad of the gift, the new-made warrior gaei;
And arms among the Greeks, and Itags fir cad
roes*
THE SKIKM1SH BETWBEJf TBI CUITAOBI Alt
LAPITHITU.
Now brave Piritboos, bold Ixioirs son,
The love of fair Hippodamd bad won.
The cloud-begotten race, half men, half ban.
Invited, came to grace the nuptial roast :
In a cool cave's recess the treat was made,
Whose entrance trees with spreading bonav ifr
shade.
They sat: and summon'd by the bridegroom, crt
To mix with those, the Lapitbsean name :
Nor wanted I : the roofc with Joy resound :
And Hymen, Io Hymen, rung around.
Rais'd altars shone with holy fires* the bride,
Lovely herself (and lovely by her side
A bevy of bright nymphs, with sober grace),
Came glittering like a star, and took her place.
Her heavenly form beheld, all wish'd her joy; •
And little wanted, bat in vain, their wissei 4
employ.
For one, most brutal of the brutal brood,
Or whether wine or beauty fir'd his blood
Or both at once, beheld with lustful eyes
The bride ; at once resolv'd to make his price.
Book It. OVID'S METAMOKPH08M. 87
Dawn went the board ; and fattening on her hair,
He seix'd with Hidden force the flighted fair.
Twas Eurytus began ; bis bestial kind
His crime panned ; and each, as pleas'd his mind,
Or her, whom chance presented, took : the feast
An image of a taken town cxpress'd.
The cave resounds with female shrieks ; we rile.
Had with revere, to make • swift reprise :
And Theseus tint, ' What phreuxy ha* poesew'd,
O Eurytns I' he cried, ' thy brutal breast,
To wrong Pirithotis ; and not him alone,
But while I live, two friends conjoin'd in one r
To justify his threat, he thrusts aside
The crowd of Centaurs, and redeems the bride :
The monster nought replied: (forwards were vain,
And deeds could only deeds unjust maintain ;)
But answers with his hand, and forward presald,
With blows redoubted, on his face and breast.
An ample goblet stood, of antique mould.
And rough with figures of the rising gold ;
The hero snatcfaM it up, and toss'd in air
Fall at the front of the foul ravisher.
He falls ; and falling, vomits forth • flood
Of wine, and foam, and brains, and mingled blood.
Half roaring and half neighing through the ball,
' Arms' arms!' the donble-fbrm'd with fnry call;
To wreak their brother's death : a raedly flight
Of bowls and jars, at -first supply the tight
(Once instrument* of feasts, but now of fate ;)
Wine animate* their rage, sod arms their bate.
Bold Anvycm, from the robb'd vestry brings
The chalice* of heaven, and holy things
Of precious weight : a sconce that hong on high,
With taper* till'd to light the sacristy,
<
88 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bmk
Torn firom the cord, with his anballow'd
He threw amid the Lapithsean band.
On Celadon the ruin fell ; and left
His free of feature and of form bereft :
So, when some brawny sacrificer k-np^frf^
Before an altar led, an offered ox,
His eye-balls rooted out, are thrown to
His nose, dismantled, in his month is fbond*
His jaws, cheeks, front, one imdtttmgnMh1
wound.
This, Relates, the' avenger, could not brook
But, by the foot, a maple-board he took
And hnrl'd at Amycns ; his chin it bent
Against his chest, and down the centaur sent -
Whom sputtering bloody teeth, the second bio
Of his drawn sword dispatched to shades belon
Grineus was near ; and cast a furious look
On the side-altar, 'cens'd with sacred smoke.
And bright with flaming fires : * The gods.' he cri
' Have with their holy trade our hands snpphei
Why use we not their gifts ? Then from the not
An altar-stone he heaved, with all the load it bo
Altar and altar's freight together flew,
Where thickest thronged the Lapithsean crew:
And, at once, Broteas and Oryns slew.
Oryus' mother, Mycale, was known
Down from her sphere to draw the labouring met
Exadius cried, ' Unpunish'd shall not go
This fact, if arms are found against the foe.'
He look'd about, where on a pine were spread
The votive horns of a stag's branching head :
At Grineus these he throws ; so just they fly
That the sharp antlers stuck in either eye.
Book 12. OVIU'S METAMORPHOSES. 89
Breathless and blind he fell ; with blood besmcartl ;
His eye-balls beaten out, hung dangling on his beard.
Fierce Rhaetns from the hearth a burning brand
Selects and whirling waves ; till, from his hand
The fire took flame ; thea dash'd it from the right,
On fair Charaxus' temples, near the sight :
The whistling pest came on, and pierc'd the bone,
And caught the yellow hair, that shrivePd while it
shone.
Caught, like dry stubble nYd; or like seerwood ;
Yet from the wound ensued no purple flood ;
But look'd a bubbling mass of frying blood.
His blazing locks sent forth a crackling sound ;
And hiss'd, like red-hot iron within the smithy
drown'd.
The wounded warrior shook his flaming hair,
Then (what a team of horse could hardly rear)
He heaves the threshold-stone, but could not throw;
The weight itself forbad die threatened blow ;
Which dropping from his lifted arms, came down
Full on Cometes' head ; and crush'd his crown.
Nor Rhaetus then retain'd his joy ; but said,
* So by their fellows may our roes be sped !'
Then with redoubled strokes he plied his head ;
The burning lever not deludes his pains,
But drives the batter'd skull within the brains.
Thus flush'd, the conqueror, with force renew'd,
Evagros, Dryas, Corythus, pursued :
First, Corythus, with downy cheeks, he slew ;
Whose fall, when fierce Evagrus had in view,
He cried, ' What palm is from a beardless prey?
Jthaetus prevents what more he had to say ;
And drove within his mouth the fiery death,
Which enter'd hissing in, and chok'd his breath.
I
» -
i
II
!
90 oruVa
AtDryataextaeflew/: laatwaamja
No longer weald the «w saecaavai
For vUk Ik wairl'4 m fiety cfccfc*i
The bread, aaWpeafd atal 11 stiaagsl
And ia the sbooider's joint aa&cai *
The weapon stock; wasc^raaf&ajajg
He drew; nor loader daist vae
Brttarrtl fait back for .
With aha fled Orneaa, witftTfike wfl
Thairnm^ mil Mr inn wnwnik il hi th
And Mere****, hi the fate nee iwaa
Now lowfriag no, mod tardy wftk oft
Pbohss aad MHaaras front fight wjsji
Aad Abaa anuaVd, who bean eaoaaa
And augur Astytos, whose ait ia ▼ail
From fight dissuaded the fonr-rooted
Now beat the hoof with Neesos oa ti
But to his fellow cried, * Be safely el
Thy death defend is doe to great Ale
Meantime strong Dryas urg»d his el
That Lycidas, Arees, bnbreoa fell j
All, one by one, and fighting face to ;
Creuaens fled, to rail with more disgn
For fearful, while he look'd behind, I
Betwixt bis nose and front, the blow
Amid the noise and tumult of the fra;
Snoring, and drank with wine, Aphid
Ev'n then the bowl within his hand b
And on a bear's rough hide securely a
Him Phorbas with his flying dart trai
Take thy next draught, with Stygian i
And ' sleep thy fill,' the' insulting vie
Sorpris'd with death anfelt, the
Boot 13, OV Ill's META-MORFKOHf. 91
The ruddy vomit, as he breath'd his soul,
Kepass'd his throat, and fill'd his empty bowl.
I saw Petraus' arms employ' d around
A well-grown oak, to root it from the ground.
This way and that, he wrench'd the fibrous binds ;
The trunk was like a sapling in bit hands.
And still obcyd the bent. While thus he stood,
Piri thous' dart drove on, and nail'd him to the wood :
Ly ens, and Chromis fell, by him appresa'd ;
Helopa, and Dictya added to the rest
A nobler palm : Helops, through either ear
Transfix'd, recciv'd the penetrating spear.
This Dictyssawiand, seiz'd with sadden fright, J
Leap'd headlong from the hill of stecpy height ;f
And crusb'd an ash beneath, that could not bear (
his weight. )
The shatter'.! tree receives his fall ; and strikes.
Within bis fall-blown paunch, the sliarpen'd spikes.
Strong Aphareus had heav'd a mighty stone,
The fragment of a rock, and would have thrown ;
Bat Theseus, with a club of harden 'd oak, 1
The cubit-bone of the bold centaur broke ; >
And left him maim'd ; nor seconded the stroke. )
Then leap'd on tall Bianors back : (who bore
No mortal burden but his own, before)
Press' d with bis knees his sides ; the double man,
His speed with span increas'd, unwilling nut.
One hand the hero futen'd on his locks ;
His other plied him with repeated strokes :
The club rung round his ears, and batter' d brows ;
He falls, and, lashing up bis heels, his rider throws.
The same Herculean arms Nedymooa wound ;
And lay by hira Lyco tss on the ground :
09 OT ID** METAMOKraOHf. But 1
And llippasus, whose beard his breast invade
And Ripheus, haunter of the woodland shades
And Tereus, us'd with moontain bears to striv
And from their dens to draw the* indignant be
alive.
Demoteon could not bear the hatefhl sight,
Or the long fortune of the* Athenian knight ;
Bnt pull'd with all his force, to disengage
From earth a pine, the product of an age :
The root stock fast : the broken trank be seal
At Theseus ; Theseus frustrates his intent.
And leaps aside ; by Pallas warnM, the blow
To shun : (for so he said ; and we beJiev'd it i
Yet not in vain the* enormous weight was cast
Which Grantor's body sunder'd at the waist :
Thy father's 'squire, Achilles, and his care;
Whom conquered in the Pelopeian war,
Their king, his present ruin to prevent,
A pledge of peace implor'd, to Felens sent.
Thy sire, with grieving eyes, beheld his late
And cried, * Not long, iov'd Grantor ! sbalt t
wait
Thy vow*d revenge.' At once be said, and tfar
His ashen-spear, which quiver'd as it flew ;
With all his force, and all his soul applied,
The sharp point entered in the centaur's side ;
Both hands, to wrench it out, the monster join
And wrench'd it out ; but left the steel behind
Stuck in his lungs it stood : enrag'd he rears
His hoofs, and down to ground thy father bear
Thus trampled under foot, his shield defends
His bead ; his other hand the lance protends,
pv'n while he lay extended on the dust,
fie sped the centaur, with one single thrust.
Book 12. OVID'S METAMORPH09BS. 95
Two more his lance before transfix'd from for ;
And two, his sword had slain, in closer war.
To these was added Dorylas, who spread
A bull's two goring horns aronnd his head.
With these he pushM ; in blood already dy'd,
Him, fearless, I approach'd ; and thus defied :
* Now, monster, now, by proof it shall appear,
Whether thy horns are sharper, or my spear.'
At this, I threw : for want of other ward,
He lifted up his hand, his front to guard.
His hand it pass'd ; and fix'd it to his brow :
Loud shouts of ours attend the lucky blow.
Him Peleus finished, with a second wound, 1
Which through the navel pierc'd : he reel'd around, >
And drag'd his dangling bowels on the ground : 3
Trod what he drag'd ; and what he trod, he crush'd;
And to his mother-earth, with empty belly, rush'd.
THE STORY OF CYLLARUS AND HYLONOME,
Nor could thy form, O Cyllarus ! fbreslow
Thy fate : (if form to monsters men allow :)
Just bloom'd thy beard; thy beard of golden hue:
Thy locks, in golden waves,aboot thy shoulders flew,
Sprightly thy look 1 thy shapes in every part
So clean, as might instruct the sculptor's art,
As far as man extended : where began
The beast, the beast was equal to the man.
Add but a horse's head and neck ; and he,
O Castor ! was a courser worthy thee.
. Sfo was his back proportioned for the seat :
So rose his brawny chest; so swiftly mov'd his feet,
Coal-black his colour, but like jet it shone;
JJis legs and flowing tail were white alone.
94 orio'f MCTAXoiPBom. Bmk 12.
Belo? 'd by many maidens of his kind,
Bat fair Hylonome possessed his uund ;
Hylonome, for feature*, and for free.
Excelling all toe nymphs of doable race :
Nor leu her blandishments, than beauty, move;
At once both loving, and confessing love.
For him she dress'd : for bun, with female care
She comb'd, and set in carl, her auburn hair.
Of roses, violets, and lilies mix'd,
And sprigs of flowing rosemary betwixt,
She fonn'd the chaplet, and adorn'd her front :
In waters of the Pegasaean fount,
And in the streams that from the fountain play,
She wash'd ber race ; and bath'd her twice a-iy.
The scarf of fare, that hung below her side,
Was ermine, or the panther's spotted pride ;
Spoils of no common beast With equal flame
They lov'd : their silvan pleasures were the sane
All day they hunted : and when day expirM,
Together to some shady cave retired:
Invited to the nuptials, both repair ;
And side by side, they both engage in war.
. Uncertain from what hand, a flying dart
At Cyllarus was sent ; which pierced his heart
The javelin drawn from ont the mortal wound,
He faints with staggering steps, and seeks tk
The fair within her arms received his fall, [groand
And strove his wandering spirits to recall :
And while her hand the streaming blood oppos'd,
Join'd face to face, his lips with hers she clos'd.
Stifled with kisses, a sweet death he dies ;
She fills the fields with nndistingnish'd cries :
At least her words were in her clamour drown'd;
For my stunn'd ears receive no vocal sound.
Book It, OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 95
In madness of her grief, she seiz'd the dart
New-drawn, and reeking from her lover's heart >
To her bare bosom the sharp point applied ;
And wounded fell ; and falling by his side,
Embrac'd him in her arms ; and, thus embracing, I
died.
Ev'n still methinks I see Phseocomes ;
Strange was his habit, and as odd his dress.
Six lions hides, with thongs together feat,
His upper part defended to his waist ;
And where man ended, the continued vest
Spread on his back, the houss ' and trappings of a
A stump too heavy for a team to draw [beast
(It seems a fable, though the fact I saw;)
He threw at Pholon ; the descending blow
Divides the skull, and cleaves his head in two.
The brains, from nose, and mouth, and either ear,
Came, issuing out, as through a colander
The curdled milk; or from the press the whey,
Driven down by weights above, is drain'd away.
But him, while stooping down to spoil the slain,
Pierc'd through the paunch, I tumbled on the plain.
Then Chthonius, and Teleboas I slew :
A fork the former arm'd ; a dart his fellow threw.
The javelin wounded me ; (behold the scar)
Then was my time to seek the Trojan war ;
Then I was Hector's match in open field ;
But he was then unborn ; at least a child :
Now, I am nothing. I forbear to tell
By Periphantas how Pyretus fell;
The centaur by the knight : nor will I stay
jOn Amphyx, or what deaths he dealt that day :
1 HoQiiugi,
I
«
06 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 2
What honour, with a pointless lance, be 1
Stuck in the front of a four-footed man.
What lame young Macareus obtain'd in fij
Or dwell on Nessns, now retorn'd from Hi
How prophet Mopsos not alone dmnTd,
Whose valour equal'd his foreseeing mind
CJRNEUB TRANSFORMED TO AM KAOl
Already Caeneus, with his conquering I
Had slaughter'd five the boldest of their I
Pyrachraus, Helymus, Antiroachos,
Bromns the brave, and stronger Stiphelua
Their names I nuraher'd, and remember i
No trace remaining, by what wound* the*
Latreus, the bulkiest of the donble raci
Whom the spoil'd arms of slain Halesus gi
In years retaining still his youthful might.
Though his black hairs were interspersed wil
Betwixt the' embattled ranks began to pn
Proud of his helm, and Macedonian lance
And rode the ring around ; that either boa
Might hear him, while he made this empty t
" And from a strumpet shall we suffer ahai
For Cscnis still, not Caeneus, is thy name :
And still the native softness of thy kind
Prevails, and leaves the woman in thy min
Remember what thou wert; what price w
To change thy sex ; to make thee not a m
And but a man in show. Go, card and spi
And leave the business of the war to men.'
While thus the boaster exercis'd his prid
The fatal spear of Caeneus reachM his side :
Just in the mixture of the kinds it ran ;
Betwixt the nether beast, and upper man :
Book 19. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 9?
The monster mad with rage* and stung with smart,
His lance directed at the hero's heart :
It struck ; but bounded from his harden'd breast,
Like hail from tiles, which the safe house invest.
Nor seem'd the stroke with more effect to come,
Than a small pebble falling on a drum.
He next his falchion tried, in closer fight ;
But the keen falchion had no power to bite.
He thrust ; the blunted point returned again :
* Since downright blows/ he cried, ' and thrusts
are vain,
I'll prove his side.' In strong embraces held
He prov'd his side ; his side the sword repell'd t
His hollow belly echo'd to the stroke, J
Untouch'd his body, as a solid rock ; [broke. >
Aim'd at his neck at last, the blade in shivers J
The' impassive knight stood idle, to deride
His rage, and offer'd oft his naked side ;
At length, * Now, monster, in thy turn/ he cried,
' Try thou the strength of Caeneus :* at the word
He thrust ; and in his shoulder plung'd the sword*
Then writh'd his hand ; and as he drove it down,
Deep in his breast, made many wounds in one.
The Centaurs saw, enrag'd, the' unhop'd success;
And rushing on in crowds, together press ;
At him, and him alone, their darts they threw ;
Repuls'd, they from his fated body flew.
Amaz'd they stood ; till Monychus began,
' O shame, a nation conquered by a man !
A woman-man ! yet more a man is he,
Than all our race ; and what he was, are we.
Now, what avail our nerves? the' united force,
Of two the strongest creatures, man and hone >
ie 1
ried, J
I.
■ <
i !
98
OVID'S MRAMOKPHOtB.
Nor goddess-born ; nor of Ism's teed
We seem ; (a lover bait for Juno* bed
Mm ter^l by this half-nun. Whole ■
With woods at once, and bury bias
This only way remains. Nor need
To choke the soul within; though not tei
Heap weights, instead of wounds.' 1
to see
Where southern storms had rooted op i
This raisM from earth, against the foe 1
The example shown, his fellow-brutes
With forest-loads the warrior they imra
Othrys, and Pelion soon were void o£
And spreading groves were naked n
Press'd with the harden, Cameos ptmts
And on his sbonlders bears the wooden
To heave the' intolerable weight he tri
At length it rose above his month and
Yet still he heaves ; and straggling wit
Shakes all aside, and gains a gulp of ai
A short relief, which but prolongs bis j
He feints by fits ; and then respires agi
At last, the burden only nods above.
As when an earthquake stirs the* Idas*
Donbtfbl his death : he suffocated seen
To most ; bnt otherwise our Mopsns d
Who said he saw a yellow bird arise
From ont the piles and cleave the liqtn
I saw it too, with golden feathers brig
Nor ere before beheld so strange a sigl
Whom Mopsns viewing, as it soar*d an
Our troop, and beard the pinion's rattl
Book 12. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 99
' All hail!' be cried, ' thy coontry's grace and love!
Once first of men below, now first of birds above.
Its author to the story gave belief;
For us, our courage was increased by grief:
Asham'd to see a single man, pursued
With odds, to sink beneath a multitude,
We push'd the foe : and forc'd to shameful flight,
Part fell, and part escap'd by favour of the night.'
THE FATE OF PEMCLYMENOS.
This tale, by Nestor told, did much displease
T)epolemu8, the seed of Hercules :
For often he had heard his father say, }
That he himself was present at the fray ; >
And more than shard the glories of the day. )
' Old chrouicle I' he said, ' among the rest,
You might have nam'd Alcides at the least :
Is he not worth your praise ?' The Pylian prince
Sigh'd ere he spoke ; then made this proud defence ;
' My former woes, in long oblivion drown'd,
I won'd have lost ; but you renew the wound :
Better to pass him o'er, than to relate
The cause I have your mighty sire to bate.
His fame has fill'd the world, and reach'd the sky;
(Which oh, I wish, with truth, I could deny!)
We praise not Hector; though his name, we know,
Is great in arms ; 'tis hard to praise a foe.
He, your great father, levell'd to the ground
Messenia's towers : nor better fortune found
Elis, and Pylos ; that a neighbouring state,
And this my own : both guiltless of their fate.
To pass the rest, twelve, wanting one, be slew ;
My brethren, who their birth from Neleus drew,
I
i»t> ovid's metamorphosm. Bmk
All youth* of early promise, had they UVd ;
By iiim they perish'd : I alone snrviv' d.
The rest were easy conquest: bat the fete
Of Periclymenos is wondrous to relate.
To iiim, our common grandsire of the main
Had giv'n to change his form, and chans/d, re
again.
Varied at pleasure, every shape he tried ;
And in all beasts Alcides still defied.
Vanqnisli'd on earth, at length he soared abov
Chang'd to the bird, that bears the bolt of Jo
The new-dissembled eagle, now endued
With beak and pounces, Hercules pursued,
And coff'd his manly cheeks, and tore his fac
Then, safe retir'd, and toured in empty space
Alcides bore not long his flying roe j
But bending his inevitable bow,
Reach'd him in air, suspended as he stood :
And in his pinion fix'd the feathered wood.
Light was the wound ; but in the sinew hung
The point, and his disabled wing unstrung.
He vtheel'd in air, and stretch'd his vans in va
His vans no longer could his flight sustain :
For while one gathered wind, one misapplied
Hung drooping down, nor pois'd his other ndn
He fell : the shaft that slightly was impress'd,
Now from his heavy nil with weight increas'i
Drove through his neek, aslant; he spurns
ground,
And the soul issues through the wezon's woun
Now, brave commander of the Rhodian set
What praise is due from me to Hercules ?
.Silence is all the vengeance I decree
For my slain brothers ; but 'tis peace with tin
BmkVB. OVIUS MBTAMOAPHOfE?. 101
Thus with a flowing tongne old Nestor spoke ;
Then to full bowls each other they provoke.
At length, with weariness and wine oppress'd,
They rise from table, and withdraw to rest.
}
THE DEATH OF ACHILLES.
The sire of Cygnus, monarch of the main,
Meantime laments his son, in battle slain,
And vows the victor's death ; nor vows in vain.
For nine long years the smother'd pain he bore ;
(Achilles was not ripe for fate before)
Then when he saw the promis'd hoar was near,
He thus bespoke the god that guides the year:
' Immortal offspring of my brother Jove !
My brightest nephew, and whom best I love,
Whose hands were join'd with mine to raise the wall
Of tottering Troy, now nodding to her fall,
Dost thou not mourn our power employed in vain,
And the defenders of our city slain?
To pass the rest, could noble Hector lie
Unpitied, drag'd around his native Troy?
And yet the murderer lives : himself by far
A greater plague than all the wasteful war.
He lives ; the proud Pelides lives, to boast
Our town destroyed, our common labour lost.
Oh, could I meet him ! but I wish too late :
To prove my trident is not in bis fate !
But let him try (for tint's allowed) thy dart,
And pierce bis only penetrable part'
Apollo bows to the superior throne,
And to his uncle's anger adds his own ;
Then, in a cloud involv*d, he takes his flight, .
Where Greeks and Trojans nijx'd in mortal fight ;
VOL. III. H
j
109 OVID'S MRAHOIISOnf Bstk.1
And found oat Paris, larking where he flood,
And stain'd his irrowi with plebeiojj Mood:
Phcebus to him alone the god confined,
Then to the recreant knight he that adVkess'd:
* Dost thou not blush, to spend thy shaft* in vi
On a degenerate and ignoble train ?
If feme or better vengeance be thy care,
There aim, and with one arrow cad the war.'
He said; and showed from far the MsringihH
And sword, which bat Achillea none could wield
And how he niov'd a god, and naowM the atani
ing field.
The deity himself directs aright
The* envenomM shaft, and wings the ratal ffigM
Thus fell the foremost of the Grecian name:
And he, the base adulterer, boasts the fame ;
A spectacle to glad the Trojan train,
And please old Priam, after Hector shun.
If by a female hand he had foreseen
He was to die, his wish had rather been
The lance and doable axe of the fair warrior
queen.
And now, the terror of the Trojan field,
The Grecian honour, ornament, and shield,
High on a pile the1 onconquer'd chief is pbc'd,
The god that arm'd him first, consnm'd at hat
Of all the mighty man, the small remains
A little urn, and scarcely fill'd, contains :
Yet, great in Homer, still Achilles lives ;
And, equal to himself, himself survives.
His buckler owns its former lord, and brim;
New cause of strife betwixt contending k'mgi
Who worthiest after him his sword to wield,
Or wear Ins armour, or sustain his shield.
liomede Kit mute, with downcast eyes,
odi of wanted worth to win the prize :
[enelaus preaum'd these anas to claim ;
i, the king of men, a greater name.
i vals only rote ; Laertes' ion,
is vaat bulk of Ajax Telamon:
ing, who cherisb'd each with equal love,
am himself all envy would remove,
oth to be dctennin'd by the laws,
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES,
book xni.
TRANSLATED BY DRTDRN AND OTBMU
THE SPEECHES OF AJAX AND ULYSSES.
BT DRYDEN. J
The chiefs were set; the soldiers crown'd tbelrf
To these the master of the seven-fold shield
Upstarted fierce; and, kindled with disdain,
Eager to speak, unable to contain
His boiling rage, he roll'd his eyes around
The shore, and Grecian galleys haul'd across
Then stretching ont his hands, ' O Jovefhe
' Must then our cause before the fleet be trirf
And dares Ulysses for the prize contend,
In sight of what be durst not once defend?
But basely fled that memorable day,
When I from Hector's bands redeem'd the
So much tis safer at the noisy bar
With words to flourish than engage in war.
By different methods we maintain our right,
Nor am I made to talk, nor be to fight
In bloody fields I labour to be great ;
His arms are, a smooth tongue, and soft deedfc
Nor need I speak my deeds, for those you see;
The sun and day are witnesses for me.
OVID'S MKTAMORPHOSRS. 105
> fights unseen relate his own,
he silent stars, and conscious moon,
prize demanded, I confess,
abject rival makes it less ;
ose honours, he but bop'd to gain*
> room for Ajax to be vain :
ins, because his name will be
r defeat, who durst contend with me.
own valour questioned, yet my blood
t plea would make my title good :
Telamoo, whose arms, employed
es, these Trojan walls destroy*d ;
ore, with Jason sent from Greece,
tup brought home the Golden Fleece,
on from JEacus derives
e' inquisitor of guilty lives
Low; where Sisyphus, whose son
thought) rolls up the restless heavy
the king of gods above [stone)
Ajax is the third from Jove.
seek advantage from my line,
lies) it were mht'd with thine ;
in, Achilles' arms I claim ;
rould ingraft a foreign name
►ck ; and the Sisyphum seed
theft asserts his father's breed :
lose these arms, because I came
ill'd, a voluntary name,
le cause, but offer'd you my aid?
g lurking was to war betray 'd :
field be came, but in the rear,
bstraction to conceal his fear ;
5 cunning caught him in the snare -r
If) and drag'd him into war*
1 06 O V 1 D ft II ET A XURPHOUS. JM tfc
Now let a hero's anus a coward vest,
And be who shun'd all honour* gam the best:
And let me stand excluded from my right,
Robb'd of my kinsman's anna, who tint appearti
fight.
Better fur us at borne bad he remained,
Had it been true the madness which he retatfi,
Or ftp behev'd ; the lesa had been oar shamr,
The less hi* connselfd crime, which brands *
Grecian name:
Nor Philoctetei bad been left mcWd
In a bare isle, to wants and pains expos'd ;
Where to the rocks, with solitary groans,
His sufferings and oar baseness be beaaoam :
And wishes (so may Heaven ma wish falfil)
The due reward to him who eana'd his ilL
Now he, with us to Troy's destruction sworn,
Our brother of the war, by whom are bona
Alcides' arrows, pent in narrow bounds, [was*
With cold and hunger pmch'd, and painM w*
To find him food and clothing, most employ
Against the birds the shafts due to the fate of Ta*
Yet still he lives, and fives from treason free,
Because he left Ulysses* company ;
Poor Palamede might wish, so void of aid,
Rather to have been left than so to death betray*
The coward bore the man immortal spite,
Who sham'd him out of madness into fight ;
Nor daring otherwise to vent his hate,
Accus'd him first of treason to the state ;
And then, for proof, prodoe'd the golden start
Himself had hidden in his tent before :
Thus of two champions he depriv'd our host,
By exile one, and one by treason lost.
Bddk IS. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES, 10?
talis fights Ulysses, thus his fiune extends,
A formidable man bat to his friends :
Great, for what greatness is in words and sound?
Ev*n faithful Nestor less in both is found.
Bnt that he might without a ri? al reign,
He left this faithful Nestor on the plain ;
Forsook his friend ev*n at his utmost need,
Who, tirM and tardy with his wounded steed,
Cried out for aid, and calTd him by his name ;
But cowardice has neither ears nor shame.
Thus fled the good old man, bereft of aid,
And, for as much as lay in him, betray'd :
That this is not a fable forg'd by me,
like one of his, an Ulyssean lie,
I vouch ev'n Diomede, who, though his friend,
Cannot that act excuse, much less defend:
He call'd him back aloud, and tax'd his fear ;
And, sure enough, he heard, but durst not bear.'
' The gods with equal eyes on mortals look,
He justly was forsaken who forsook :
Wanted that succour he refus'd to lend,
Found every fellow such another friend.
No wonder if he roar'd that all might hear;
His elocution was increased by fear :
I heard, I ran, I found him out of breath,
Pale, trembling, and half-dead with fear of death.
Though he had judg'd himself by his own laws,
And stood condemn'd, I help'd the common caused
With my broad buckler hid him from the roe ;
(Ev'n the shield trembled as he lay below)
And from impending fate the coward freed :
Good Heaven forgive me for so bad a deed f
If still he will persist, and urge the strife,
First let him give me back his forfeit life :
108 OTID'S METAMORPHOSES, issifc t
Let him retnrn to that opprobrioas field ;
Again creep under my protecting smeld :
Let aim lie wounded, let the foe be near,
And let his quivering heart confess Ins fear;
There pat him in the very jaws of (ate,
And let him plead his cause in that estate :
And yet when snateb'd from death, when from pel
My lifted shield I loos'd, and let hha go;
Good Heavens! how light he rose, with what a bo
He sprung from earth, forgetful of his wound;
How fresh, how eager then his feet to ply :
Who had not strength to stand, had speed to fl
' Hector came on, and brought the gods sisi
Fear seiz'd alike the feeble and the strong :
Each Greek was an Ulysses; such a dread
The* approach and cv*n the sound of Hector h
Him, flesh'd with slaughter, and with coon
I met, and overturn'd him to the ground ; [crow
When after, matchless as he deem'd in might,
He challenge all our host to single fight ;
All eyes were fix'd on me: the lots were thrown
But for your champion I was wish'd alone.
Your vows were heard; wefought,and neither yi
Yet 1 return 'd unvanquish'd from the field.
With Jove to friend, the' insulting Trojan «■— «
And menae'd us with force, our fleet with fl—
Was it the strength of this tongue-valiant lord,
In that black hour, that sav'd you from the swo
Or was my breast expos'd alone, to brave
A thousand swords, a thousand ships to save ?
The hopes of your return ! and can you yield,
For a sav'd fleet, less than a single shield?
Tliink it no boast, O Grecians ! if I deem
These arms want Ajax, more than Ajax them r
Bimk 1$< Grill's METAMORPfcOStS. 109
Or I with them an equal honour share ;
They honoor'd to be worn, and I to wear.
Will he compare my courage with his sleight r"
As well he may compare the day with night.
Night is indeed the province of his reign : >
Yet all his dark exploits no more contain J-
Than a spy taken, and a sleeper slain ; S
A priest made prisoner, Pallas made a prey :
But none of all these actions .done by day :
Nor ought of these was done, and Diomedeaway.
If on such petty merits you confer
So vast a prise, let each his portion share ;
Make a just dividend j and if not all,
The greater part to Diomede will fall.
But why for Tthacus such arms as those,
Who naked and by night invades his foes ?
The glittering helm by moonlight will proclaim
The latent robber, and prevent his game r
Nor could he hold his tottering head upright
Beneath that morion, or sustain the weight;
Nor that right arm could toss the beamy lance -,
Much less the left that ampler shield advance,
Poodrous with precious weight, and rough with cost
Of the round world in rising gold emboss'd.
That orb would ill become his hand to wield,
And look, as for the gold he stole the shield ;
Which, should your error on the wretch bestow,.
It would not frighten, but allure the foe.
Why asks he what avails him not in tight.
And would but cumber and retard his flight.
In which his only excellence is plac'd ?
You give him death, that intercept bis baste.
Add, that his own is yet a maiden-shield,
Nor the least dint has suffer'd in the field*
110 otid's mramobpmo*. JloacU.
Guiltless of fight : Bine bntter'd, hewH, ami hart,
Worn oat of service, m
What further need of word*
My arguments are deeds; let
Since from a chsnpious
Go, east the glorious priae
Then send as to redeem both
And let him wear who wins *<
He said : — A nmrmor from a smdtitndt ,
Or somewhat like a stifled shoot,
Till from his seat arose Laertes*
Look'd down awhile, and pans'd eve be
Then to. the* expecting audience rasM has look.
And not without prepar'd attention spoke :
Soft was his tone, and sober was has
Action his words, and words bis
4 Ifflrsirn mjlnrrli hsdtifiHnnTnisnsiMminijX
These arms had cans'd no quarrel for an bear;
Still great Achilles had his own possess**!,
And we with great Achilles had been bleasVl :
Bot since hard fate, and Heaven's severe decree.
Have ravish'd him awaj from yon and nee ;—
(At this be sigh'd, and wip'd his eyes, and drew,
Or seem'd to draw, some drops of kindly dew)
Who better can sncceed Achilles lost,
Than be who gave Achilles to your boat?
This only I request, that neither be
May gain, by being what he seems to be,
A stupid thing ; nor 1 may lose the prise
By having sense, which Heaven to him denies :
Since, great or small, the talent I enjoy'd
Was ever in the common cause employed ;
Nor let my wit, and wonted eloquence,
Which often has been ns*d in your defence
\
Boik 15. ovid's metamorphoses, ill
And in my own, this only time be brought
To bear against myself, and deem'd a fault
Make not a crime where nature made it none ;
For every man may freely use his own.
The deeds of long-descended ancestors
Are but by grace of imputation ours.
Theirs in effect; but since he draws his line
From Jove, and seems to plead a right divine;
From Jove, like him, I claim my pedigree,
And am desoended in the same degree :
My sire Laertes was Arcesius' heir,
Arce8ius was the son of Japiter :
No parricide, no banish'd man, is known
In all my line : let him excuse his own.
Hermes ennobles too my mother's side,
By both my parents to the gods allied.
Bat not because that on the female part
My blood is better dare I claim desert,
Or that my sire from parricide is free ;
But judge by merit betwixt him and me :
The prize be to the best; provided yet
That Ajax for a while his kin forget,
And his great sire, and greater uncle's name,
To fortify by them his feeble claim ;
Be kindred and relation laid aside,
And honour's cause by laws of honour tried :
For if he plead proximity of blood,
That empty title is with ease withstood.
Peleus, the hero's sire, more nigh than be,
And Pyrrhus, his undoubted progeny,
Inherit first these trophies of the field ;
To Scyros,or to Phthia, send the shield:
And Teucer has an uncle's right ; yet he
Waves bis pretensions, nor contends with me.
oiW< urtiu
Bbi take Ibeie fir*, is order a
* Then*, who kaew the Fan
To keep Ac* ilia is daraic fir
And toll the 1»
At I
With proner'd mm to tab pi
£fee, not riuecttr'd by her hub
. : iv'ii her manhood b? brr
And ■bile on footle ton her I
id in her warlike kind, ■
n, by (fair act revtafd, I i
1 ■ O goddta* bom ! reain aat 1
The All of IriawJ a reterr'd fbi
Then ■eiz'd him, and, prodoe'd
Sent Mashing to the Geld the £
Mine ihen art all hs action* ol
Gre.il Telephni mi conquer^
And after coCd : to me the Tb
To me the DoMe Hector', tleat
Those ami I pat into hit lirini
Aftftft IS. OVID't MOTAMOtfHNtt, 113
*Twas a dead cahaeredvorae Mails that i iifcmfrt,
And hi the pott the whmVbound nee€<detsnsiw. •
mo signs mre seen, ana oractes severe ■
Were daily tanderil m our general's ear,
That by hit daughter's blood we moat appease
I>iana,8 kindled wrath, and free the seas.
Affection, interest, taw, bis heart assaiTd ;
But soon the father o'er the kins; prevaiFd :
Bold, on himself be took the plow crime,
As angry with the gods, as they with Mm.
No subject could sustain their sovereign'* look,
Till this hard enterprise I undertook :
I only durst the* imperial po wei control,
And underniin'd the parent in his soul;
Forc'd him to' exert the king for conunon good,
And pay our ransom with his daughter's Mood.
Never was cause more difficult to plead,
Than where the judge against htmsetf decreed ;
Yet this I won by dint of argument : ■
The wrongs his injured brother underwent,
And his own office, tbam'd him to consent.
' Twas harder yet to move the mother* mind j
And to this heavy task was I designed :
Reasons against her love I knew were vain $ .
I circumvented whom I could not gain :
Had Ajax been employ'd, our slackened sails
Had still at Auhs waited happy galea.
' Arriv'd at Troy, your choice was fed on me,
A fearless envoy, fit for a bold embassy:
Secure, I enter'd through the hostile court,
Glittering with steel, and crowded with resort :
Theism the midst of anus, I plead our
Urge the foul rape, and violated laws;
Accuse the foes, as anthora of the strife,
Reproach the ravisher, demand the wife.
\
Book 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSE*. 115
Then speeding through the place, I made a-stand,
And loudly cry'd, " O base degenerate band,
To leave a town already in your hand !
After so long expense of blood, for fame,
To bring home nothing bat perpetual shame I*
These words, or what I have forgotten since,
(For grief inspird me then with eloquence)
Reduc'd their minds : they leave the crowded port,
And to their late forsaken camp resort.
Dismay'd the council met : this man was there,
But mute, and not recovered of his fear :
Thersites taxM the king, and loudly raiPd,
But his wide-opening mouth with blows I seal'd.
Then, rising, 1 excite their souls to fame,
And kindle sleeping virtue into flame.
From thence, whatever he perfbrm'd in fight
Is justly mine, who drew him back from flight
* Which of the Grecian chiefs consorts with
thee?—
But Diomede desires my company,
And still communicates his praise with me.
As guided by a god, secure he goes,
Arm'd with my fellowship, amid the foes;
And sure no little merit I may boast,
Whom such a man selects from such an host.
Vnforc'd by lots I went, without affright,
To dare with him the dangers of the night:
On the same errand sent, we met the spy
Of Hector, double-tongu'd, and uS'd to lie ;
Him T dispatch'd, but not till, undermined, [signVJ.
I drew him first to tell what treach'rousTroy de-
My task perform'd, with praise I had retir'd ;
But, not content with this, to greater praise aspir'd :
116 OTID't MZtt
Invaded Rhesus and hit
And him and his in their own strength I tin
Retnrn'd a victor, all my tows i UMpfcilr.
With the king's chariot, in his royal teat:
Refuse me now his arms, whose fiery steed*
Were promis'd to the spy for hat inn laiaal 4
And let dull Ajaz bear away my right,
When all his days outbalance tins one night
« Nor fought I darkling still: theawabeh
With slaughter^ Lycians when I strew** the
Yon saw, and counted as I passM airway
Alastor, Chrourios, Ceranos the itnofj
Alcander, Prytanis, and Halina,
Noemon, Charopes, and Ennotmis ;
Coon, Cbersidamas ; and five beside,
Men of obscure descent, but courage tried :
All these this hand laid breathless on the groi
Nor want I proofs of many a manly wound
All honest, all before : believe not me ;
Words may deceive, but credit what yon set
At this he bartl his breast, and showed bis act
As of a rarrowVl field, well ploogh'd with n
* Nor is this part unexercis'd ;' said he,
' That giant-bulk of bis from wounds is free
Safe in his shield be fears no foe to try,
And better manages his blood than I :
But this avails me not ; our boaster strove
Not with our foes alone, but partial Jove,
To save the fleet: this I confess is true,
(Nor will I take from any man bis doe)
But, thus assuming all, he robs from yon.
Some part of honour to your share will mil,
He did the best indeed, but did not alt
tlaoklS. OVIDt HRAHOJVaoUf. It?
Patrocliu in Achilles' anna (and thought
The chief he seem'd) with equal ardour fought (
PreservM the fleet/ repell'd the raging fire.
And fared the fearful Trojans to retire.
' But AjaK boasts, that he was only thought
A match tor Hector, whs the combat sought*
Sure he forgets the king , the chiefs, and mat
All were as eager for the tight as he i
He but the ninth, and not by public voice,
Or ours prefer I'd, was only fortune's choice:
They fought ; nor can our hero boast the' event,
For Hector from the field unwouurled went.
' Why am I fore'd to name that ratal day,
That snatch'd the prop and pride of Greece away P
1 saw Pelidea sink, with pious grief,
And run in rain, alas ! to hit relief;
For the brave son! was fled. Full of ray friend,
I rush'd amid the war, hit relics to defend ;
Nor ceas'd my toil till I redeem'd the prey,
And, loaded with Achillea, march'd away ■
Those arms, wbieb on these shoulders then I bore,
Tis just you to these shoulders should restore.
Von see 1 want not nerves, who could sustain
The ponderous ruins of so great a man i
Or if in others equal force yon find,
None is endued with a more grateful mind.
■ Did Thetis then, ambitions in bet care,
These arms, thua labotir'd, for her son prepare, j
That Ajai after bin the heavenly gift shou'd w
For that dull sonl to stare, with stupid eyes
On the lewn'd unintelligible price !
prepare, C
ru'd wear." )
118 OVID'S MBTAMORniOf n. Bmk IS
Tbe Pleiads, Hyads ; lesa and greater Bar,
Uodipp'd in sets; -Orion* angry star;
Two differing cities, graved on either hand)
Would he wear arms he cannot understand?
' Beside, what wise objections he prtptm
Against my late accession to the wan I
Does not the fool perceive his argument
Is with more force against Achilles bent ?
For if dissembling be so great a crime,
The fault is common, and the same in una :
And if he taxes both of long delay,
My guilt is less who sooner came away.
His pious mother, anxious for his lire,
Detam'd her son ; and me, my pious wife.
To them the blossoms of our youth were dae,
Oar riper manhood we reserVd for yon.
Bat grant me gnilty, 'tis not much my care,
When with so great a man my guilt I share:
My wit to war the matchless hero brought,
But by this fool I never had been caught
' Nor need I wonder, that on me he threw
Such foul aspersions, when he Spares not you;
If Palamede unjustly fell by me.
Your honour suffer'd in the* unjust decree :
I but accus'd, you doom'd: and yet he died
Convinced of treason, and was fairly tried :
You heard not he was false ; your eyes beheld
The traitor manifest ; the bribe reveaTd.
' That Philoctetes is on Lemnos left,
Wounded, forlorn, of human aid bereft.
Is not my crime, or not my crime alone ;
Defend your justiee, for the fact's your own :
Boo* 13. o<
Tistraetlie'advicewMmme;that staying there 1
He might bis weary limbs with rest repair, >
From a long voyage free, and from a longer war. }
He took the counsel, and he lives at leait ;
The* event declares 1 counsell'd for the belt :
Though faith is all in minister! of state;
For who can promise to be fortunate t
Now since his arrows are the fate of Troy,
Do not my wit or weak address employ,
Send Ajai there, with Iris persuasive sense,
To mollify the man, and draw him thence:
But Xaothus shall ran backward ; Ida stand
A leafless mountain ; and the Grecian band
Shall fight for Troy ; if, when my coimiel fail,
The wit of heavy Ajax can prevail.
' Hard Philoctetes, exercise thy spleen
Against thy fellows, and the king of men ;
Curse my devoted head Above the rest,
And wish in arms to meet me breast to breast :
Yet I the dangerous task will undertake,
And either die myself, or bring thee back.
' Nor donbt the same enccess, as when before
The Phrygian prophet to these teats I bore,
Snrpris'd by night ; and fore'd him to declare
In what was plac'd the fortune of the war,
Heaven's dark decrees, and answers to display,
And how to take the town, and where the secret lay:
Vet this I compass'd, and from Troy eonvey'd
The fatal image of their guardian-maid :
That work was mine ; for Pallas, though oar friend,
Yet while she was in Troy did Troy defend.
Now what has Ajax done, or what deeega'4 1
A noisy nothing, and an empty wind.
!f
'■
ISO OTIDf METAliOiniOIB. BttkV
If be be what be promises in show
Why was I tent, and why rear'd he'to ga?
Oar boasting champion thought toe taskast sgl
To pass the guards, commit hiiii If in akhl.
Not only through a hostile town to pass,
But scale, with steep ascent, toe annul place;
With wandering steps to search the citadel,
And from the priests their patroness to steal:
Then through sarroonding foes to force an tag
And bear in triumph home the heavenly prey;
Which bad I not, Ajaz in vain had *»*M
Before that monstrous bulk, bis seven-fold stick
That night to conquer Troy I might he said.
When Troy was liable to conquest made.
' Why point'st thou to my partner of the war
Tydides had indeed a worthy share
In all my toil and praise; bnt when thy might
Oar ships protected, didst thoa singly fight?
All join'd, and thoa of many wert bnt one -
I ask'd no friend, nor had, bnt him alone :
Who, had he not been well assur'd that art
And conduct were of war the better part,
And more avail'd than strength, my valiant frieai
Had urg'd a better right than Ajax can pretend:
As good, at least, Eorypylos may claim,
And the more moderate Ajax of the name:
The Cretan king, and bis brave charioteer,
And Mcnelans bold with sword and spear.
All these had been my rivals in the shield,
And yet all these to my pretensions yield.
Thy boisterous hands are then of use, when I
With this directing head those hands apply.
Brawn without brain is thine: my prndent can)
Foresees, provides, administers the
Thy province is to fight ; but when shall be
Tiic limp to fight, the king consults with me.
No dram of judgment with thy force is join'd:
Thy body is of profit, and my mind.
By how much more the ship her safety owes
To him who steers, than him that only rows;
By how much more the captain merits praise,
Than he who tights, and fighting hut obeys ;
By so much greater is my worth than thine,
Who canst but execute what I design.
What gain'at thou, brutal man I if I confess
Thy strength superior, when thy wit is less?
Mind is the man : I claim my whole desert
From the mind's vigour, and the1 immortal parr.
' But you, O Grecian chiefs, reward my care,
Be grateful to your watchman of the war :
For all my labours in so long a space,
Sure I may plead a title to your grace:
Enter the town ; I then nnbarr'd the gates,
When I remoT'd their tutelary fates.
By all our common hopes, if hopes they be
Which I have now reduc'd to certainty ;
By falling Troy, by yonder tottering tow'rs,
And by their taken gods, which now are ours ;
Or if there yet a further task remains.
To be pcrform'd by prudence or by pains ;
If yet some desperate action rests behind,
That asks high conduct, and a dauntless mind ;
If ought be wanting to the Trojan doom,
Which none but I can manage and o'ercome;
Award those arms I ask, by your decree :
Or give to this, what yon refuse to me.'
He eeas'd : and ceasing, with respect he bow'd.
And with his hand at once the nital statue sliow'd.
m ©VIDS MRAMOSFaUltSS. JM 13.
Heaven, air, and ocean, rung with load
And by die general vote be gain'd bis
Thus conduct woo the prise, when caavasesmiTd,
And eloquence o'er bratal force prevaiTd.
THE DEATH OF AJAX.
He wbo could often, and alone, withstand
The foe, the fire, and Jove's own partial hand,
Now cannot his unmaster'd grief —— *!!»„
Bat yields to rage, to madness, and disdain :
Then snatching out his falchion, <Thon»* said he,
* Art mine; Ulysses lays no chum to thee.
O often tired, and ever-trusty sword,
Now do thy last kind office to thy lord:
"Us Ajax who requests thy aid, to show
None but himself himself could overthrow !'
He said, and with so good a will to die.
Did to bis breast the fetal point apply :
It found his heart, a way till then unknown,
Where never weapon enter'd but his own.
No hands could force it thence, so fix*d it stood,
Till out it rush'd, expelTd by streams of spouting
blood.
The fruitful blood produc'd a flower which grew
On a green stem; and of a purple hue j
Like his, whom unaware Apollo slew ;
Inscrib'd in both, the letters are the same,
But those express the grief, and these the name.
THE STORY OF POLYXENA AND HECUBA.
BY TEMPLE STAMTAir.
The victor with full sails for Lemnos stood,
(Once stain'd by matrons with their husbands'
blood)
\
JBstfc 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 1*3
Thence Great Alcides' fatal shafts to bear,
Assign'd to Philoctetes' secret care.
These with their guardian to the Greeks convey'd,
Their ten years toil with wish'd success repaid.
With Troy old Priam falls ; his queen survives;
Till, all her woes complete, transform'd she grieves
In borrow'd sounds, nor with a human face,
Barking tremendous o'er the plains of Thrace.
Still Ilium's flames their pointed columns raise.
And the red Hellespont reflects the blaze.
Shed on Jove's altar are the poor remains
Of blood, which trickled from old Priam's veins.
Cassandra lifts her bands to Heaven in vain,
Drag'd by her sacred hair ; the trembling train
Of matrons to their burning temples fly;
There to their gods for kind protection cry,
And to their statues cling till fore'd away,
The victor Greeks bear off the' invidious prey.
From those high towers Astyanax is thrown,
Whence he was wont with pleasure to look down,
When oft his mother with a fond delight
Pointed to view his father's rage in fight,
To win renown, and guard lus country's right.
The winds now call to sea ; brisk northern gales
Sing in the shrowds, and court the spreading sails.
' Farewell, dear Troy !' the captive matrons cry,
' Yes, we must leave our long-lov'd native sky.'
Then prostrate on the shore they kiss the sand,
And quit the smoking ruins of the land.
Last Hecuba on board, sad sight! appears;
Found weeping o'er her children*' sepulchres:!
Drag'd by Ulysses from her slaughter^ sons,
Whilst yet she grasp'd their tombs, and kiss'd tlieir
mouldering bones.
u,
1
Yet Hector's ashes r>ona his an
And in her bosom the sad relic
Then scatterM on bis tomb her
A poor oblation Bungled with her
Oppos'd to Ilium lit the Threes
Where Polymnes tor sale in plenty w .
King Priam to Ins care cofjunita fast son,
Yoang Polydore, the ehance of war to si
A wise precaution? had not gold, consort
For the child's nfte,debaucaJd the tyrants aw
When sinking Troy to its last period draw,
With impious hands his royal charge he slew;
Then in the sea the lifeless cone is thrown;
As with the body he the gnilt could drown.
The Greeks now riding on the Thracian shn
Till kinder gales invite, their vessels moor.
Here the wide-opening earth to sadden view
Disclosed Achilles, great as when he drew
The vital air, hat fierce with proud MmAmin
As when he songht Brise'is to regain ;
When stern debate, and rash injurious strife
TJnsheath'd bis sword, to reach Atrides' fife.
' And will ye go? he said, ' Is then the «wn*
Of the once great Achilles lost to tame?
Yet stay, ungrateful Greeks ; nor let me sat
In vain for honours to my manes dee.
For this just end Pclyxena I doom
With victim-rites to grace my slighted tomb.'
The phantom spoke; the ready Greeks obey1
And to the tomb led the devoted maid,
Snatch'd from her mother, who with pious care
Cherish'd this last relief of her despair.
Superior to her sex, the fearless maid
Approached the altar, and around survey'd
.-'
Book 13. ovin** MKTAMOBPnoais. 1M
The ernel rites, and consecrated knife,
Which Pyrrbns pointed at her guiltless life.
Then, as with stern amaze intent he Mood,
* Now strike,' she said, ' now ipill my generous
Deep in my breast or throat your dagger sheath,
Whilst thus I stand prepaid to meet my death.
For life on terms of slavery I despise :
Yet sure no god approves this sacrifice.
Ob ! could I but conceal this dire event
From my sad mother, I should die content.
Yet should she not with tears my death deplore,
Since her own wretched life demands them more.
But let not the rude touch of mam pollute
A virgin-victim ; 'tis a modest suit.
It best will please, whoe'er demand* my blood,
That I untainted reach the Stygian flood.
Yet let one short, last, dying prayer be heard,
To Priam's daughter pay this last regard ;
Tie Priam's daughter, not a captive, sues;
Do not the rites of sepulture refuse.
To my afflicted mother, I implore,
Free without ransom my dead corpse restore :
Nor barter me for gain when I am cold; }
But be her tears the price, if I am sold : V
Time was sbe could have ransom'd me with gold.' >
Thus as she pray'd, one common shower of team
Burst forth, and stream'd from every eye bat hen.
Ev'n the priest wept, and with a rude remorse
Pluug'd in ber heart the steel's resistless force.
Her shtcken'd limbs sunk gently to the ground,
Dauntless her looks, unalter'd by the wound.
And as she fell, sbe strove with decent pride
T« guard what auita a virgin's care to hide,
126 otid*s MKMJiOftnntB. Bmk IS.
The Trojan matrons the pale corpse receive,
And the whole slaughter d race of Prin grieve
Sad they recount the long diintroi tale;
Then with fresh tears, thee, royal maid! bewail :
Thy widowed mother too, who flomiaVd late
The royal pride of Asia's happier state :
A captive lot now to Ulysses borne ;
Whom yet the victor would reject with scon.
Were she not Hector's mother : Hector's fame
Scarce can a master for his mother chum !
With strict embrace the lifeless corse she view's1;
And her fresh grief that flood of tenia renew**,
With which she lately moarn'd so many dead*
Tears for her country, sons, and hatband, shed.
With the thick-gmbingstream she banVd the woani;
Kiss'd her pale lips ; then, weltering on the gnaM
With wonted rage her frantic bosom tore,
Sweeping her hair amidst the clotted gore;
Whilst her sad accents thus her loss deplore :
' Behold a mother's last dear pledge of woe!
Yes, 'tis the last I have to suffer now.
Thou, my Polyxena, my ills most crown :
Already in thy fate I feel my own.
Tift thus, lest haply of my numerous seed
One should unslaaghter'd mil, even thou must Meat
And yet I hop'd thy sex had been thy guard ; [
But neither has thy tender sex been spar*d.
The same Achilles, by whose deadly hate
Thy brothers fell, urg'd by untimely fate I
The same Achilles, whose destructive rage
Laid waste my realms, has robb'd my child**
When Paris' shafts with Phoebus' certain aid
At length bad piere'd this dreaded chief, I said,
B*ok 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSBS. 127
Secure of future ills, he can no more.'
But see, he still pursues me as before;
With rage rekindled his dead ashes burn,
And his yet murdering ghost my wretched house
must mourn.
This tyrant's lust of slaughter I have red
With large supplies from my too-fruitful bed.
Troy's towers lie waste ; and the wide ruin ends
The public woe ; but me fresh woe attends.
Troy still survives to me ; to none but me ;
And from its ills I never must be free.
I, who so late had power, and wealth, and ease,
Bless'd with my husband, and a large increase,
Must now in poverty an exile mourns
Ev'n from the tombs of my dead offspring torn :
Given to Penelope, who, proud of spoil,
Allots me to the loom's ungrateful toil ;
Points to her dames, and cries, with scorning mien,
" See Hector's mother, and great Priam's queen 1"
And thou, my child, sole hope of all that's lost,
Thou now art slain, to soothe his hostile ghost.
Yes, my child falls an offering to my foe 1
Then what am I, who still survive this woe ?
Say, cruel gods ! for what new scenes of death
Must a poor aged wretch prolong this hated breath?
Troy fall'n, to whom could Priam happy seem?
Yet was he so ; and happy must I deem
His death ; for oh ! my child, he saw not thine,
When he his life did with his Troy resign.
Yet sure due obsequies thy tomb might grace;
And thou shalt sleep amidst thy kingly race.
Alas 1 my child, such fortune does not wait
Our suffering house in this abandon'd state.
f
in ontft wmummmm, **»
A foreign grave, aid t^ poor aaetaariteanv
Ait all the hoMti that anead thy*
All now is LM I— Vat no ; aMewMa
Of li fc re
Myjonni
Norstf by lie gi
Than let me hasten to the i:ln—a haa, awed, -*J
And an* away aM atatat af gtlWMiWHi'^
Straight to the shore bar fcclMa at** ir^
With limping pane, » " " " " — *■
The matron! shrlek'd ; ber big-«wn!n grief Mas4|
Tbo power of utterance ; abe stood aghast;
Sue had nor speech nor teen to give refief: '
Excess of woe anppress'd the rising grief.
Lifeless at stona on earth abe fix'd ber eyes,
And then look'd op to heaven with wild sera*
Now abe contemplates o'er with sad oVIgbt
Her «on'B pale tisage ; then ber aching sight
Dwell! on his wounds, fine varies tana by B*
Till with collected rage at length aha b«M,
W ild a the mother-lion, when among
Tha haunts of pray she seek* ber ra^attf aeaaji
Swift flies the raviaber ; abe marks hit tract, ,
And by the print directs her anxious chaw. '
So Hecuba with mingled grief and rage
Pnrinea the king, regardlen of ber age.
She grtete the murderer with diaaambledjta
Of secret treasure, boarded for ber boy.
The tpeciooi tale the* unwary king betrayU
Fif d with the hopes of prey, ' Give quick,' be""
look 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 129
Vith soft enticing speech, the promis'd store :
iiate'er you give, yon give to Polydore*
iur son, by the immortal gods I swear,
ill this with all your former bounty share/
e stands attentive to his soothing lies,
id darts avenging horror from her eyes,
en foil resentment fires her boiling blood ;
e springs upon him midst the captive crowd ;
er thirst of vengeance want of strength supplies)
stens her forky fingers in his eyes ;
ars out the rooted balls; her rage pursues,
d in the hollow orbs her hand imbrues,
rhe Thracians, fir'd at this inhuman scene,
ith darts and stones assail the frantic queen.
3 snarls and growls, nor in a human tone ;
en bites impatient at the bounding stone ;
tends her jaws, as she her voice
keen invectives in her wonted
it barks ; and thence the yelping brute betraye
11 a sad monument the place remains,
id from this monstrous change its name obtains:
lere she, in long remembrance of her ills,
ith plaintive bowlings the wide desert fills.
Greeks, Trojans, friends, and foes, and godi
above,
x numerous wrongs to just compassion move :
'n Juno's self forgets her ancient hate,
d owns she had deserv'd a milder fate.
THE FUNERAL OP MEMNON.
BY CROXdLL.
ifct bright Aurora, partial as she was
Troy, and those that lovM the Trojan cause,
juuuiug none ,
roice would raise )
ited phrase, >
tins brute betrays. )
i
130 OVID'S METAMOftPHOSIS. B—k 13.
Nor Troy nor Hecuba can now bemoan,
Bat weeps a sad misfortune more her own.
Her offspring Meronon, by Achilles shun,
She saw extended on the Phrygian plain :
She saw, and straight the purple beams, that graet
The rosy morning, yanish'd from her face ;
A deadly pale her wonted bloom invades,
And veils the louring skies with mournful
But when his limbs upon the pile were hud,
The last kind doty that by friends is paid,
His mother to the skies directs her flight,
Nor could sustain to view the doleful sight :
But frantic, with her loose neglected hair,
Hastens to Jove, and falls a suppliant there*
' O king of heaven ! O father of the skies!
(The weeping goddess passionately cries)
Though I the meanest of immortals am,
And fewest temples celebrate my nine,
Yet still a goddess, I presume to come
Within the verge of your ethereal dome :
Yet still may plead some merit, if my light
With purple dawn controls the powers of night;
If from a female hand that virtue springs,
Which to the gods and men such pleasure brings, i
Yet I nor honours seek, nor rites divine,
Nor for more altars or more fanes repine ;
Oh ! that such trifles were the only cause,
From whence Aurora's mind its anguish dims!
For Memnon lost, my dearest only child,
With weightier grief my heavy heart is filPd ;
My warrior son ! that liv'd but half his time,
Nipt in the bud, and blasted in his prime ;
Who for his uncle early took the field,
And by Achilles' fatal spear was kHfd.
^
Book 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 131
To whom bat Jove should I for succour come ?
For Jove alone cou'd fix his cruel doom.
O sovereign of the gods, accept my pray*r,
Grant my request, and soothe a mother's care j
On the deceas'd some solemn boon bestow,
To expiate the loss, and ease my woe.'
Jove, with a nod, complied with her desire j
Around the body flam'd the funeral fire ;
The pile decreas'd, that lately seem'd so high,
And sheets of smoke roll'd upward to the sky :
As humid vapours from a marshy bog
Rise by degrees, condensing into fog,
That intercept the sun's enlivening ray,
And with a cloud infect the cheerful day.
The sooty ashes, wafted by the air,
Whirl round, and thicken in a body there ;
Then take a form, which their own heat and fire
With active life and energy inspire.
Its likeness makes it seem to fly, and soon
It skims on real wings, that are its own j
A real bird, it beats the breezy wind,
Mix'd with a thousand sisters of the kind,
That, from the same formation newly sprung,
Up-borne aloft on plumy pinions hung.
Thrice ronnd the pile advanc'd the circling throng,
Thrice, with their wings, a whizzing concert rang.
In the fourth flight their squadron they divide,
Rank'd in two Afferent troops, on either side :
Then two and two, inspired with martial rage,*
From either troop in equal pairs engage.
Each combatant with beak and pounces press'd,
In wrathful ire, his adversary's breast;
Each fells a victim, to preserve the fame <
Of that great hero whence their being cane.
13* OVtD*i MBTAttOUHOflll. Hfc*!*
From him their connge mod their mm tteytafe
And, as they li^d, they die for Mesaaaasiake.
Punctual to time, with each revolving year
In fresh amy the champion-htrds appear ;
Again, prepar'd with vengetal minds, they ea»
To bleed, in honour of the soldier's tosib.
Therefore, in others it appeared notsUsapj
To grieve for Hecuba's unhappy change :
Bat poor Aurora had enough to do
With her own loss, to mind another* woe;
Who still in tears her tender nature shews,
Besprinkling all the world with pearly den*
THE VOYAGE OP AWEAB.
BVCATCOTT.
Troy thus destroy'd, 'twas still denied by »*
The hopes of Troy should perish with the sto*
His sire, the son of Cytherea bore,
And household-gods, from burning Ilium's sails'
The pious prince (a doable duty paid)
Each sacred burden through the flames coanji
With young Ascanius, and this only prise,
Of heaps of wealth, he from Antandros fifes;
But, struck with horror, left the Thraciaa sat*
Stain'd with the blood of raurder'd Polydore.
The Delian isle receives the banisu'd train,
Driv'n by kind gales, and favour'd by the aaas»
Here pious Anios priest and monarch reigriy
And either charge with equal care sustahVd;
His subjects rul'd, to Phoebus homage pay'd,
His god obeying, and by those obey*d.
The priest displays his hospitable gate,
And shows the riches of bis church and state.
Book 13.. OVID'S METAMORPHOSE!. 133
The sacred shrubs which eas'd Latona's pain.
The palm and olive, and the votive nine.
Here grateful flames with faming incense fed,
And mingled wine ambrosial odours shed ;
Of slaughter^ steers the crackling entrails bnra'd: '
And then the strangers to the court returned.
On beds of tap'stry plac'd aloft, they dine
With Ceres* gift, and flowing bowls of wine ;
When thus Anchises spoke, amidst the feast,
' Say, mitred monarch, Phoebus' chosen priest,
Or (ere fit>ra Troy by cruel fate expclPd)
When first mine eyes these sacred walls beheld,
A son and twice two daughters crown*d thy bliss ?
Or errs my memory, and I judge amiss ?* •
The royal prophet shook bis hoary head,
With snowy fillets bound, and, sighing, said :
« Thy memory errs not, prince! thou saw'st me/
then
The happy lather of so large a train :
Behold me now (such turns of chance betid
The race of man !) almost bereft of all.
For, ah ! what comfort can my son bestow,
What help afford, to mitigate my woe ?
While tar from hence, in Andres' isle he reigns,
(From him so nam'd) and there my place sustains.
Him Delius prescience gave; the twice-born god
A boon more wondrous on the maids bestowed.
W hate'er they touch'd, he gave them to transmul
(A gift past credit, and above their suit,)
To Ceres, Bacchus, and Minerva's fruit.
How great their value, and how rich their use,
Whose only touch such treasures could produce!
' The dire destroyer of the Trojan reign,
Fierce Agamemnon, such a prize to gain,
vol; hi. k
u.
ite,V
154 ovid's inmoiraow. Jtssk is.
(A proof we also were design'd by fate
To feel the tempest that ofe-tumM your state)
With force superior, and a ruffian crew,
From these weak arms the helpleat virgins drew:
And sternly bad them me the grant drrfae,
To keep the fleet in corn, in ofi, and wine.
Each, as they could, escap'd : two strove to (sai
Eabceal isle, and two their brother's reign.
Tne soldier follows, and demands the dames;
If held by force, immediate war proclaims.
Fear conqaer'd nature in their brother* mint),
And fate them ap to punishment assigrid.
Forgive the deed ; nor Hector's arm was there,
Nor thine, JEneas, to maintain the war ;
Whose only force upheld your Ilium's tow'rs,
For ten long years against the Grecian pow'rs.
Prepaid to bind their captive arms in bands,
To heaven they reafd their yet nnfotter*d hands,
« Help, Bacchus ! anthor of the gift!' they pray ft
The gift's great anthor gave hnnv>dhn> aid ;
If such destruction of their human frame,
By ways so wondrous, may deserve the name:
Nor could I hear, nor can I now relate
Exact, the manner of their altered state ;
Bat tins in general of my loss I knew, )
Trahsform'd to doves on milky plumes they flew, (
Such as on Ida's mount thy consort* chariot i
drew/ J
With such discourse they entertaia'd the feast;
Then rose from table, and withdrew to rest
The following morn, ere Sol was seen to shine!
The' inquiring Trojans sought the sacred shrine;
The mystic power commands them to explore
Their ancient mother, and a kindred shore.
Book 1$. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 135
Attending to the sea, the generous prince
Dismissed his guests with rich nranhVence ;
In old Anchises' band a sceptre placM,
A vest and quiver young Ascanhis gracM,
His sire a cup, which from the* Adman coast
Ismenian Thenes sent his royal host.
Alcon of Style* made what Tberses sent,
And carVd thereon this ample argument
A town with seven dbtingViish'd fates was shown,
Which spoke its name, and made the city known ;
Before it piles, and tombs, and rising names,
The rites of death, and quires of mourning dames,
Who baril their breasts, and gave their hair to now,
The signs of grief, and marks of public woe.
Their fountains dried, the weeping Naiads mounr'd ,
Tbe trees stood bare, with searing cankers bnrnM,
No herbage cloth'd the ground, a ragged flock
Of goats, halftamish'd, lick'd the naked rock.
Of manly courage, and with mind serene,
Orion's daughters in the town were seen;
One heavM her chest to meet the lifted knife,
One pluns/d tbe poniard through the seat of lift,
Their country's victims; mourns the rescued state,
The bodies burns, and celebrates their rate.
To save the failure of the* illustrious line,
From the pale ashes rose, of form divine,
Two generous youths ; these, fame Coronas calls,
Who join the pomp, and mourn their mother's falls.
These burnish*dfigures,form*d of antique mold, i
Shone on tbe brass, with rising sculpture bold; £
A wreath of gilt Acanthus round tie brim was i
roird. J
Nor less expense the Trojan gifts expressed;
A fuming censer for tbe royal priest,
].*» OTtsVS MCTJ
A ehufiee, aad s crom Of
Wim raddy cold aad
Sow houtaa; ail, to Qete tbe Ti
Thcm-Jvcs maimnn'mi sprang £rasn Tt
Bat beavea Jotts*, aad pestileaft3al Jove [bftaani
From aouoaa skirt the wandering un drove
Her aaadred cities left, rrasn Crcse they bore,
Awl soatjrt the desf iad bad, Awn's amove ;
Bat tuaVd by storms at either atruawan bryf
Till scared by Harpies from the ^rtfci— t fa^.
Tbea panning onw ar d with a pvoapevoen wind,
Left si y Ulysses* spacious reahaa behiad j
Aaabracia's state, ia former ago knows
TV strife of gods, the jadge rransJuisn'd to stoat
They saw ; for Action Phoebus since renowa'd,
Who Caaar's arms with naval mannam crowa'd:
Nest pass'd Dodona, wont of old to boaot
Her vocal forest; and Cfaaonals coast,
Where kins; Moloams* sons on wings aspirM,
And saw secure the harmlesa tad tVd.
Now to Honda's happy isle they casne,
For fertile orchards known to early rant* h
Epirus past, they next beheld with joy
A second Ilium, and fictitious Troy :
Here Trojan Helenas the sceptre iway'd,
Who shoWd their fete, and mystic truths difiplayVL
By htm coufirro'd, Sicilia's isle they reach'd ;
Whose sides to sea three promontories stretcfa'd;
Paebynos to the stormy south is plac'd,
On Iilyb*om blows the gentle west.
Peloro's cbfls the uorthera bear survey,
Who rolls above, and dreads to touch the
By this they steer, and, favour'd by the ti
Secure by night in Zancle'6 harbour ride.
Book 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSE*. 137
Here cruel Scylla guards the rocky shore,
And there the waves of loud Charybdn roar r -
This sucks and vomits ships, and bodies drown'd ;
And ravenous dogs the womb of that surround.
In face a virgin ; and (if aught be true
By bards recorded) once a virgin too.
A train of youths in vain desirVl her bed^
By sea-nymphs lov*d, to nymphs of seas she fM ;
The maid to these, with female pride, display^
Their baffled courtship, and their love betrayM.
When Galatea thus bespoke the fair,
(Beit first she sigh'd) while Scylla comb'd her hair:
' You, lovely maid, a generous race pursues,
Whom safe you may (as now you do) refuse ;
To me, though powerful in a numerous tram
Of sisters, sprung from gods who role the main,
M yjpatlve seas could scarce a refuge prove,
To shun the fury of the Cyclops' love.'
Tears chok'd her utterance here; the pitying maid
With marble fingers wip'd them off, and 'said :
* My dearest goddess, let thy Scylla know
(For I am faithful) whence these sorrows flow.*
The maid's intreaties o'er the nymph prevail
Who thus to Scylla tells the mournful tale.
THE STORY OF ACIS, POLYPHHMUS, AMD GALATEA.
BY DRYDEtf.
' Acis, the lovely youth whose loss I nxraro,
From Faunus and the nymph Symetlris born,
Was both his parents' pleasure ; but, to me
Was all that love could make a lover be.
The gods our minds in mutual bands did join a -«
I was his only joy, and he was mine.
• fntataaiMaajjaj,
Who* BHMiMwft**llwW ■*>•»,
And lo*d ajeAeraelr, ae 1 1W* the he*.
Aek Mt which paawen !■ aty mi w- a-1-
■y hut amraka, or aty feat Mn
tape, Tom, Am, both heaven anil carib,obey;
Iawaanae ahj power, and bound less u thy away;
The Orclopa, erbo defied the' ethereal tbiwac,
And thcigjtt au thaadet louder than bU iwa,
The terror of the wood*, tori wilder fa
The* wolree a* ahaae, or bears in fornti m,
TW iahwwaat bMt, who made hit Mood; faff* ■
Ob Wufci OMMBOti of bit butcher d ifacrtft,
Tot Mt the) BMW of l»*e an* fierce detir*,
AoRanrt ifci aoftMH of a bwer-i air ;
And cnM, with teeth of rake*, hk> ragged hear. J
Now with « crooked Mythe hu beard) he data*
And aware the rtobbora ttnbblc of be* cbeeki;
Now in tap etyalal etnam ho look*, to trj
Hk wmefrea, and roll) Ms flaring eye.
ia erurity and (hint of blood are loot;
Woo Btarfc'd the tract* of every bird that flew,
And tan pfaaaata from their tyipg okw)
Foretold, the CjeUtpn, that Ulystcf band
Jb h* broad eye abeaW tfanwt a tauaief bread.
Book 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 159
The giant, with a scornful grin, replied,
" Vain augur, thou hut falsely prophesied;
Already love his flaming brand has toss'd ;
Looking on two fair eyes, my sight I lost.9
Thus, warn*d in vain, with stalking pace he strode,
* And stamp'd the margin of the briny flood
With heavy steps ; and, weary, sought again
The cool retirement of his gloomy den.
4 A promontory, sharpening by degrees,
Ends in a wedge, and overlooks the seas :
On either side, below, the water flows ;
This airy walk the giant lover chose.
Here on the midst he sat ; his flocks, unled,
Their shepherd follow'd, and securely fed.
A pine so burly, and of length so vast,
That sailing ships requir'd it for a mast,
He wielded for a staff, his steps to guide ;
But laid it by, his whistle while he tried.
A hundred reeds, of a prodigious growth,
Scarce made a pipe proportion'd to his mouth ;
Which when he gave it wind, the rocks around
And watery plains the dreadful hiss resound.
I heard the ruffian-shepherd rudely blow,
Where, in a hollow cave, I sat below ;
On Acis* bosom I my head reclin'd,
And still preserve the poem in my mind.
* " Oh, lovely Galatea! whiter tar
Than falling snows, and rising lilies are ;
More flowery than the meads, as crystal bright,
Erect as alders, and of equal height;
More wanton than a kid, more sleek thy skin
Than orient shells that on the shores are seen ;
Than apples fairer, when the boughs they lade;
Pleasing as winter suns or summer shade ;
I
1 It OVIO*l METAMORPHOSES. Bet* 1$.
So like* that no distinction could be seen;
So pretty, they were presents for a queen ;
And so they shall: I took then both any,
And keep to be companions of your play.
" Oh raise, fair nymph, your beauteous face above
The waves, nor scorn my presents and my love.
Come, Galatea, come, and view my face ;
I late beheld it in the watery (lass,
And found it lovelier than I fearM it
Sorvey my towering statue and my
Not Jove, the Jove you dream that rales the skies,
Bears such a bulk, or is so largely spread ;
My locks (the plenteous harvest of my bead)
Hang o'er my manly face, and, dangling down,
As with a shady grove my shoulders crown.
Nor think, because my limbs and body bear
A thickset underwood of bristling hair,
My shape deform'd ; what fouler sight can be,
Than the bald branches of a leafless tree ?
Foul is the steed without a flowing mane ;
And birds, without their feathers and their tram;
Wool decks the sheep ; and man receives a grace
From busby limbs, and from a bearded rice.
My forehead with a single eye is fllfd,
Round as a ball, and ample as a shield.
The glorious lamp of Heaven, the radiant son,
Is nature's eye ; and she's content with one.
Add, that my father sways your seas, and I,
like you, am of the watery family:
I make yon his in making you my own ;
You I adore, and kneel to you alone.
Jove, with liia fabled thunder, I despise,
And only fear the lightning of your eyes.
^
Book IS. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 141
My garden fill'd with fruits yon may behold,
And grapes in clusters, imitating gold;
Some blushiug bunches of a purple hue ;
And these, and those, are all reserved for yon.
Red strawberries, in shades, expecting stand,
Proud to be gathered by so white a hand.
Autumnal cornels latter fruit provide,
And plums, to tempt yon, turn their glossy side ;
Not those of common kinds ; but such alone
As in Phscacian orchards might have grown :
Nor chesnuts shall be wanting to your food,
Nor garden-fruit, nor wildings of the wood ;
The laden boughs for yon alone shall bear,
And yours shall be the product of the year.
' " The flocks you see are all my own; beside }
The rest that woods and winding valleys hide, >
And those that folded in the caves abide. '
Ask not the nnmbers of my glowing store ;
Who knows how many, knows he. has no more.
Nor will I praise my cattle ; trust not me,
Rut judge yourself, and pass your own decree:
Behold their swelling dugs ; the sweepy weight
Of ewes, tliat sink beneath the milky freight :
In the warm folds their tender lambkins lie,
Apart from kids that rail with human cry.
New milk in nut-brown bowls is duly senftl
For daily drink ; the rest for cheese reseiVd.
Nor are these household dainties all my store
The fields and forests will afford us more ;
The deer, the hare, the goat, the savage boar.
All sorts of ven'son ; and of birds the best;
A pair of turtles taken from the nest.
I walk'd the mountains, and two cubs I found,
Whose dam bad left 'em on the naked ground,
:\
8«&tS
X
in:
bnkc
i
Book 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 14^
While Scylla, tearful of the wide-spread main,
Swift to the safer shore returns again.
There o'er the sandy margin, unarray'd,
With printless footsteps dies the bounding maid ;
Or in some winding creek's secure retreat
She bathes her weary limbs, and shuns the noon~
day's heat.
Her Glaucus saw, as o'er the deep he rode,
New to the seas, aud late receiv'd a god.
He saw, aud languisu'd for the virgin's love,
With many an artful blandishment he strove
Her flight to hinder, and her fears remove.
The more he sales, the more she wings her flight,
And nimbly gains a neighbouring mountain's height
Steep shelving to the margin of the flood,
A neighbouring mountain bare and woodless stood;
Here, by' the place secur'd, her steps she stay'd,
And, trembliug still, her lover's form surveyed.
His shape, his hue, her troubled sense appal,
And dropping locks that o'er his shoulders fall; •
She sees his face divine, and manly brow,
End in a fLu's wreathy tail below :
She sees, and doubts within her anxious mind,
Whether he comes of god or monster-kind.
This Glaucus soon perceiv'd ; and, * Oh ! forbear,,
(His hand supporting on a rock lay near)
Forbear," he cried, * fond maid, this needless fear
Nor fish am I, nor monster of the main,
But equal with the watery gods I reign ;
Nor Proteus nor Pakemon me excel,
Nor he whose breath inspires the sounding shell
My birth, 'tis true, I owe to mortal race,
And I myself but late a mortal was :
Ev'n then in seas, and seas alone, I joy'd ;
The seas my hours and all my cares employ'd.
3
i
>
There north*
Nor rani
Hot flocks
To crop Ac wiui, of
Thither sare
Aad set, by
By namber on the
My captives, whoso or ■§ ay acts I
Or hosjs; aawary on ay wiry
Strange to behold ! yet what avails a
I saw 'eat bite the crass as I sat by ;
Then sadden, darting; o'er the
They spread their fios, as at their
I paas'd with wonder struck, whfle al asy prey
Left their new master, and regainM the
Aams'd, within ary secret self I sooajrt,
What god, what herb, the naracle had
M Bat sore no herbs bare power like this,* I ofes\
* Aad straight I plnck'd some neighbouring heraf,
and tried.
Scarce bad I bit, and pror*d the wondrona taste,
When strong convabions shook my troubled breast:
I felt my heart grow fond of something strange,
And my whole nature labouring with a change.
Restless I grew, and every place forsook,
Aad still upon the seas T beat ary look.
Book 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 147
" Farewel for ever! farewel land!" I said ;
And plung'd amidst the waves my sinking head.
The gentle powers, who that low empire keep,
Received me as a brother of the deep ;
To Tetbys and to Ocean old they pray,
To purge my mortal earthy parts away :
The watry parents to their suit agreed,
And thrice nine times a secret charm they read,
Then with lustrations purify my limbs,
And bid me bathe beneath a hundred streams :
A hundred streams from various fountains run,
And on my head at once come rushing down.
Thus far each passage I remember well,
And faithfully thus far the tale I tell .:
But then oblivion dark on all my senses fell.
Again at length my thoughts reviving came,
When I no longer found myself the same :
Then first this sea-green beard I felt to grow,
And these large honours on my spreading brow;
My long descending locks the bulows sweep,
And my broad shoulders cleave the yielding deep;
My fishy tail, my arms of azure hue,
And every part divinely changed I view.
But what avail these useless honours now?
What joys can immortality bestow ?
What though our Nereids all my form approve I
What boots it while fair Scylla scorns my love r*
Thus far the god; and more he would have said.
When from his presence flew the ruthless maid.
Stung with repulse, in such disdainful sort,
He seeks Titanian Circe's horrid court
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK XIV.
TRANSLATED BT DR. GARTH.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF 8CYLLA.
Now Glaucus, with a lover's haste, bounds o'er
The swelling waves, and seeks the Latian shore.
Messena, Rhegiuni, and the barren coast
Of flaming -/Etna, to his sight are lost :
At length he gains the Tyrrhene seas, and views
The hills where baneful philters Circe brews j
Monsters in various forms around her press,
As thus the god salutes the sorceress : —
' O Circe ! be indulgent to my grief,
And give a lovesick deity relief.
Too well the mighty power of plants I know.
To those my figure and new rate I owe.
Against Messena, on the* Ausonian coast,
I Scylla view'd ^ and from that hour was lost.
In tenderest sounds I sued ; but still the fair
Was deaf to vows, and pitiless to prayY.
If numbers can avail, exert their pow'r;
Or energy of plants, if plants have more.
I ask no cure j let but the virgin pine
With dying pangs, or agonies like mine.
Boob 14. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 149
No longer Circe could her flame disguise,
But to the suppliant god marine replies :
' When maids are coy, have manlier aims in view ;
Leave those tliat fly, but those that like, pursue.
If love can be by kind compliance won ;
See, at your feet, the daughter of the sun.9
* Sooner,' said Glaucus, ' shall the ash remove
From mountains, and the swelling surges love ;
Or humble sea-weed to the hills repair.
Ere I think any but my Scylla fair.'
Straight Circe reddens with a guilty shame,.
And vows revenge for her rejected flame.
Fierce liking oft a spite as fierce creates ;
For love refns'd, without aversion, hates.
To hurt her hapless rival she proceeds ;
And, by the fall of Scylla, Glaucus Weeds*
Some fascinating beverage now she brews,
Compos'd of deadly drugs, and baneful juice.
At Rhegium she arrives ; the ocean braves,
And treads with unwet feet the boiling waves.
Upon the beach a winding bay there lies,
Sheltered from seas, and shaded from the skies :
This station Scylla chose ; a soft retreat
From dulling winds, and raging Cancer's heat
The vengeful sorceress visits this recess;
Her charms infuses, and infects the place.
Soon as the nymph wades in, her nether part*
Turn into dogs ; then at herself she starts ;
A ghastly horror in her eyes appears ;
But yet she knows not who it is she fears :
In vain she offers from herself to runr
And drags about her what she strives to shmu
Oppress'd with grief the pitying god appears,
And swells the. rising surges with his tears ;
tol. in. L
l.y> ovidI wbtamorfmsss. Bos* 14.
From the detested sorceress he fKes;
Her art reviles, and ber address denies ;
Whilst hapless Soil*, chang1* to reck*,
Destruction to those barks thai heat the
THE TOY AGE OF JEVEAS COBIUHIKBu
Here bnlgd the pride of mm'd CTymes" fleet,
Bot good £nens 'scap'd the mte he Bet.
As to the Latnn shore the Trojan stood.
And cat with weU-tJm'd oars the
He wcatfaer-d fell Charyb<hs; bet
The *kk» were^darken'd, and the rrojiiit stroaf.
Then to the Libyan coast he stretches ofer,
And makes at length the Cartbaghmmi skate.
Here Ditto, with an hospitable care,
Into her heart receives the wanderer.
From her kind arms the' imgraterol hero flies;
The injured queen looks on with dying eyes,
Then to her roily mils a sacrifice.
JEneas now sets sail, and plying gains
Fair Eryx, where his friend Acestes reigns :
First to his sire does faneral rites decree,
Then gives the signal next, and stands to sen:
Outruns the islands where volcano* roar »
Gets clear of Sirens, and their mitbleas shore;
Bot loses Paranuros in the way,
Then makes Inarime and Prochyta.
I
THE TRAXSFOBMATIOIT OF CEftCOMAKS 1KT0
APES. j
The galleys now by Pythecnsa pom : j
The name is from the natives of the place.
The mther of the gods, detesting lies,
Oft with abhorrence heard their perjnriesv
Bo»k 14. OVID'S MBTAMOltPROSBh ljt
The* abandon'd race, transfoim'd to beast, began
To mimic the impertinence of moo.
Flat noa'tl and furrow'd, with grimace they grin .;
And look, to what they were, too near akin :
Merry in make, and busy to no end,
This moment they divert, the next offend :
So much this species of their pant retains ;
Though lost the language, yet the noise remains.
MBXM DESCEND* TO HELL.
Now on Us right he leaves Paithenope ;
His left, Hisenns jutting in the sea ;
Arrives at Cnnue, and with awe iqrvey'd
The grotto of the venerable maid: ,
Begs leave through black A vermis to retire,
And view the much-lov'd manes of his sire.
Straight the divining virgin rais'd her eyes ;
And, foaming with a. holy rage, replies ; [claim j
' O thout whose worth thy wondrous works pro-
The flames, thy piety ; the world, thy fame ;
Though great be thy request, yet shalt. thou see
The' F.lysian fields, the' infernal monarchy ;
Thy parent's shade: this arm thy steps shall guide j
To suppliant virtue nothing is denied.'
She spoke, and pointing to the golden bough,
Which in the' Avetroan grove refulgent ffew,
' Seize that,' she bids : he listens to (lie maid,
Then views the mournful mansions of the dead :
The shade of great Anehises, and the place
By Fates determin'd to the Trajan race.
As hack to upper light the hero came.
He thus salutes the visionary dame :
' Oh, whether some propitious deity,
Or lov'd by those bright raters of the sky !
152 OTID'8 METAMORPHOSES. Book 14.
With grateful incense I shall style yon one,
And deem no godhead greater than your own.
Twas yon restart) me from the realms of night.
And gave me to behold the fields of light,
To feel the breezes of congenial air,
And nature's bless'd benevolence to share.'
THE STORY OF THE SIBYL.
' I am no deity/ replied the dame,
' But mortal, and religious rites disclaim :
Yet had avoided death's tyrannic sway,
Had I consented to the god of day.
With promises he sought my love, and said*,
1 Have all you wish, my fair Cumsean maid.*
I pans'd \ then pointing to a heap of sand,
For every grain, to live a year, demand.
But ah ! unmindful of the1 effect of time,
Forgot to covenant for youth and prime.
The smiling bloom I boasted once is gone,
And feeble age with lagging limbs creeps on.
Seven centuries have I liv'd ; three more fulfil
The period of the years to finish still.
Who'll think that Phoebus, dressed in youth dmie,
Had once believ'd his lustre less than mine ?
This witherd frame (so Fates have will'd) shall waste
To nothing but prophetic words at last'
The Sibyl mounting now from nether skies,
And the fara'd Ilian prince, at Cumae rise.
He saird, and near the place to anchor came,
Since call'd Cajera, from his nurse's name.
Here did the luckless Macareus, a friend
To wise Ulysses, bis long labours end.
Here,, wandering, Achaemenides he meets,
And, sudden, thus his late associate greets :—
Beok 14. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 153
* Whence came you here, O fricud ! and whi-
ther bound ?
All ga?e you lost on far Cyclopean ground ;
A Greek's at last aboard a Trojan found/
THE ADVENTURES OF ACHiEMENlDES.
Thus Achaemenidea — < With thanks I name
jEneas, and his piety proclaim.
I 'scap'd the Cyclops through the hero's aid,
Else in his maw my mangled limbs had laid.
When $rst your navy under sail he found,
He rav'd till AStna labour'd with the sound.
Raging, he stalk'd along the mountain's side,
And vented clouds of breath at every stride.
His staff a mountain ash ; and hi the clouds
Oft, as he wafts, his grisly front be shrowds.
Eyeless, he gropM about with vengeful baste,
And justled promontories as he pass'd :
Then keav'd a rock's high summit to the main,
And bellow'd like some bursting hurricane : -
" Oh ! could I seise Ulysses in his flight,
How unlamented were my loss of sight 1
Thesejaws should piecemeal tear each panting vein>
6rind every crackling bone, and pound his brain.*
As thus he rav'd, my joints with horror shook ;
The tide of blood my chilling heart forsook.
[ saw him once disgorge huge morsels raw,
Of wretches undigested in his maw:
From the pale breathless trunks whose limbs he tore,
His beard all clotted with jo'erflo wing gore.
VI y anxious hours I pass'd is caves ; my food
Was forest fruits, and wildings of the wood.
\t length a sail I wafted, and aboard
My fortune found an hospitable lord.
I
154 orro's iWAMoiHwnL Bank 14h
New, n retnrn, year owi adienlana tel,
And what, since first yon pat to
O'er Tvcai seas, and JBoh» lift
A largess to Ulysses be csmignTd,
And ■ a steer's teagja hide iaelosn a
Nine days before the swefing gale wa m ;
The tenia, to aaake the averting land, begs* *
When aow the amy naviners, to fiad
lanpaTd wealth within, the bag aaaand.
Forthwith ont-fnnYd a gett, which backwavatl
Oor galleys to the I* irrigoniaaamore, [bereV
Wane crown Antiphntta the tyrant wore. J
Some few nn— iainiiVi were with apeed to treat:
We to his court repair, his gaardi we nsect.
Two, friendly flgatprcaw'd ; the third was dooeVd
To be by those cma'd cannibals l uaissn'd.
Iidiaiaanly oar hapten friends they treat;
Oar men they Dnurder, and destroy oar fleet.
In tane the wise Ulysses bore away,
And dropM nb anchor in yon ruthless bay.
The thoegnts of perils peat we anil retain,
And rear to land till lot* appoint toe am.
Polite* tone, Elpenor given to wine,
Enrylochns, inyseHv the lots assign ;
Desiga'd for dangers, and resoWd to dare,
To Circe's fetal palace we repair.
•
TBS BHGHAamBKTB OF CWCE.
' Before toe spacious front a herd we find
pi beasts, the fiercest of the savage kind.
rs. J
Book 14. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 15&
Our trembling tteps with blandishments they meet,
And fawn, unlike their species, at our feet*
Within upon a sumptuous throne of state,
On golden columns raU'd, the* enchantress- sate.
Rich was her robe, and amiable her mien,
Her aspect awful, and she took'd a queen.
Her maids not mind the loom, nor household care,
Nor wage in needlework a Scythian war,
Bat call in canisters disastrous flow'ra,
And plants from haunted heaths and miry bow*
With brazen sickles reaped at planetary bears.
Each dose the goddess weighs with watchful eye :
80 nice her art in impious pharmacy t
Efftfcrmg she greets as with a gracious look,
And airs that future amity bespoke.
Her ready nymphs serve up a rich repast j
The bowl she dashes first, then gives to taste.
Quick, to our own undoing, we comply ;
Her power we prove, and show the sorcery.
4 Soon in a length of face our head extends ;
Our chine stiff bristles bears, and forward bends :
A breadth of brawn new burnishes our neck ;
Anon we grunt, as we begin to speak.
Alone Eurylochus refus'd to taste,
Nor to a beast obscene the man debas'd.
Hither Ulysses hastes, (so Fates command)
And bears the powerful Moly in his hand;
Unsheathe Us scimitar, assaults the dame,
Preserves bis species, and remains the same.
The nuptial rite this outrage straight attends ;
The dower desir'd is Ins transfigur*d friends ;
The incantation backward she repeats,
Inverts her rod, and what she did defeats.
15* otid1* stetabokphosbs. Bmk 14*
* And now oar skis grows moth
■pright;
Ow ins stretch wp, oar doves feet
Wifii tens ovr weeping gtacral wi
Hang on hk seek, sad aaelt Bpoa las face.
Twelve silver aaooas in Greet ooort we stay,
Whilst there they waste the' bo wsUiag hoars away.
Twas here I spy*d a yoath hi Puriaa
His bead a Becker bore; the caBse
To passengers :— a Byaroh of Circe's
IV mysleiv &ns atteaapted to eipfawB.'
THE STORY OF PICUS AND CAMBBS*
4 Picas, who oace the* Amonian sceptre held,
Could rein the steed, and fit bisa for abe field.
So like he was to what you see, that still
We doubt if real, or the sculptor's skiN-:
The Graces in the fintsh'd piece yon find
Are bat the copy of his fairer mind.
Poor bistres scarce the royal youth oonld naais,
TiD every lovesick nymph confess* a name.
Oft for his love the mountain Dryads sued,
And every silver sister of the flood :
Those of Numicus, Albula, and those
Where Almo -creeps, and hasty Nar o'erflows ;
Where sedgy Ank> glides through smiling meads,
Where shady Parfar rustles in the reeds;
And those that love the lakes, and homage owe
To the chaste goddess of the silver bow.
* In Tain each nymph her brightest charms pa ton,
His heart no sovereign would obey but one.
She whom Venilia, on Mount Palatine,
To Janus bore, the purest of her line.
^
Book 14. ovin's metamorphoses. IS?
Nor did her face alone her charms confess,
Her voice was ravishing, and pleas'd no less.
Whene'er she song, so melting were her strains,
The flocks unfed seem'd listening on the plains ,
The rivers would stand still, the cedars bend,
And birds neglect their pinions to attend ;
The savage kind in forest wilds grow tame,
And Canens, from her heavenly voice, her name.
' Hymen had now in some ill-fated hour
Their hands united, as their hearts before.
Whilst their soft moments in delights they waste,
And each new day was dearer than the past ;
Hicus would sometimes o'er the forests rove,
And mingle sports with intervals of love.
It chanc'd, as once the foaming boar he chas'd,
His jewels sparkling on bis Tynan vest,
Lascivious Circe well the youth survey'd,
As stapling on the flowery hills she stray'd.
Her wishing eyes their silent message tell,
And from her lap the verdant mischief fell ;
As she attempts at words, his courser springs
O'er hills and lawns, and ev'u a wish outwings*
" Thou shalt not 'scape me so," pronounced the dame,
" If plants have power, and spells be not a name**
She said — and forthwith fbrm'd a boar of air,
That sought the covert with dissembled fear :
Swift to the thicket Picus wings his way
On foot^o chase the visionary prey.
* Now -she invokes the daughters of the night,
Does noxious juices smear, and charms recite ;
Such as can veil the moon's more feeble fire,
Or shade the golden lustre of her sire.
In filthy fogs she hides the cbeer^il noon ;
The guard at distance, and the youth alou$.
Ofc! I
or
w
\
Ok
Oft
or
4»
T#
I
■Book 14. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. IjD
Blue serpents o'er the tainted herbage slide,
Pale glaring spectres on the ether ride ; '
Dags howl, earth yawns, rent rocks forsake their
beds,
And from their quarries heave their stubborn heads.
The sad spectators stftfen'd with their fears
She sees, and sadden every Hmb she smears;
Thai each of savage beasts the figure bears.
* Tne son did now to western waves retire,
In tides to temper bis bright world of fire.
Omens laments her Toyal husband's stay ;
111 suits fend love with absence or delay.
Where she commands, her ready people run :
She wills, retracts j bids, and forbids anon.
Restless in mind, and dying with despair,
Her breasts she beats, and tears her flowing hair.
Six days and nights she wanders on, as chance
Directs, without or sleep or sustenance.
Tiber at last beholds the weeping fair ;
Her feeble limbs no more the mourner bear :
&tretch'd on his banks, she to the flood complains,
And faintly tunes her voice to dying strains ;
The sickening swan thus hangs her silver wing?,
And, as she droops, her elegy she sings.
Ere long sad Canens wastes to air ; whilst fame
The place still honours with her hapless name.'
' Here did the tender tale of Picus cease ;
Above belief the wonder I confess.
Again we sail, but more disasters meet,
foretold by Circe* to our suffering fleet
Myself unable further woes to bear,
Declin'd the voyage, and am refug'd here,*
loO OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bmk 14.
\
JEHCAS ARRIVES III ITALY.
Thus Macareus — Now with a pious aim
Had good ASneas rais'd a funeral flame,
In honour of his hoary nurse's name.
Her epitaph he fix*d ; and, setting sail,
Cajeta left, and catch'd at every gale.
He steertl at distance from the faithless shore,
Where the false goddess reigns with fatal pow'r;
And sought those grateful groves that shade the
plain,
Where Tiber rolls majestic to the main,
And fattens as he runs the fair champaign.
His kindred gods the hero's wishes crown
With fair Lavinia, and Latiuus' throne :
But not without a war the prize he won.
Drawn up in bright array the battle stands :
Turnus with arms his promised wife demands.
Hetrurians, Latians, equal fortune share,
And doubtful long appears the face of war. [plies,
Both powers from neighbouring princes seek sop-
And embassies appoint for new allies.
JEneas, for relief, Evander moves ;
His quarrel he asserts, his cause approves;
The bold Rutiliaos, with an equal speed,
Sage Venning dispatch to Diomede.
The king, late griefs revolving in his mind,
These reasons for neutrality assign'd : —
' Shall I, of one poor dotal town possess'd,
My people thin, my wretched country waste ;
Au exil'd prince, and on a shaking throne,
Or risk my patron's subjects, or my own P
You'll grieve the harshness of our hap to heir,
Nor can I tell the tale without a tear.
Book \\. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 161
THE ADVENTURES OF DIOMEDES.
' After fam'd Itium was by Argives woo,
And flames had fintsh'd what the sword begun j
Pallas, incena'd, pursued us to the main, .
In vengeance of her violated fane.
Alone Oileus forced the Trojan maid,
Yet ai| were punish'd for the brutal deed.
A storm begins, the raging waves ran high,.
The clouds look heavy, and benight the sky ;
Red sheets of lightning o'er the seas are spread,
Our tackling yields, and wrecks at last succeed.
Tb tedious our disastrous state to tell,
Ev*n Priam would nave pitied what befel.
. Yet Pallas saVd me from the swallowing main,
At .home new wrongs to meet as fates ordain.
Cbas'd from my country, I once more repeat
All sufferings seas could give, or war complete.
.For Venus, mindful of her wound, decreed
Still new calamities should past succeed.
Agmon, impatient through successive ills,
With fury love's bright goddess thus reviles : —
" These plagues in spite to Diomede are sent ;
The crime is his, but ours the punishment.
Let each, my friends, her puny spleen despise,
And dare that haughty harlot of the skies."
The rest of Agmon's insolence complain,
And of irreverence the wretch arraign,
About to answer; his blaspheming throat
Contracts, and shrieks in some disdainful note.
To his new skin a fleece of feather clings,
Hides his bte arms, and lengthens into wings.
The lower features of his face extend,
Warp into horn, and in a beak descend.
16* OTUB'S MTAMQftPMtES. Both 14*
Some more experience Agmon's destiny,
And, wheeling in the air,, like swans they fly :
These thin remains to Dawns' renhjns I bring,
And hese I reign, a poos pxecarioos king.*
THE TRANSFORMATION Of APPCLUS.
Thttt Diomedes. Vennhw withdraws ;
tJnsped the serviee of the conmon cause.
Puteoli he passes, and surveyM
A cave long honeur'd lor its awful shade.
Here trembling reeds exclude the piercing ray,\
Here streams in gentle mils through windiagsf
stray, (
And with a passing breath cool aephyrs play. /
The goatherd-god frequents the silent place,
As once the wood-nymphs of the sylvan race,
TBI Appnlns with a dishonest air,
And gross behaviour, banish'd thence the fair.
The bold buffoon, whene'er tbey tread the green,
Their motion mimics, but with gests obscene.
Loose language oft he utters; but ere long
A bark in filmy net-work binds his tongue.
Thus chang'd, a base wild olive be remains ;
The shrub the coarseness of the clown retains.
THE TROJAN SHIPS TRANSFORMED TO SEA*
NYMPHS.
Meanwhile, the Latians all their power prepare
'Gainst fortune,, and the foe to push the war.
With Phrygian blood the floating fields they stain;
But, short of succours, still contend in vain.
Turnus remarks the Trojan fleet ill-man'd,
Unguarded, and at anchor near the strand y
J
Book *4. ovid's metamorphoses. 165.
He thought ; and straight a lighted brand he bore,
And fire invades what scap'd the waves before.
The billows from the kindling prow retire;
Pitch, rosin, searwood, on red wings aspire,
And Vulcan on theseas exerts his attribute of fire.
This when the mother of the gods beheld,
Her towery crown she shook, and stood reveal'd ;
Her brindled lions rein'd, unveil'd ber head,
And, hovYing o'er her ravoWd fleet, she said :
c Cease, Turnus, and theheavenly powers respect,.
Nor dare to violate what I protect
These galleys once fair trees on Ida stood,
And gave their shade to each descending god,.
Nor .shall consume ; irrevocable fate
Allots their being no determin'd date.'
Straight peals of thunder heaven's high arches
rend,.
The hail-stones leap, the showers in spouts descend,.
The winds with widen'd throats the signal give ;
The cables break, the smoking vessels drive.
Now, wondrous, as they beat the foaming flood,.
The timber softens into flesh and blood ;
The yards and oars new arms and legs design ;
A trunk, the hull ; the slender keel, a spine ;
The prow, a female face; and by degrees
The galleys rise green daughters of the seas.
.Sometimes on coral beds they sit in state,
Or wanton on the waves they fear'd of late.
The barks that beat the seas are still their care,
Themselves remembering what of late they were ;
To save a Trojan sail in throngs they press,.
But smile to sea Alcinous in distress.
Unable were those wonders to deter
The kalians from their unsuccessful wajv.
164 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Bock 14.
Both sides for doubtful victory contend,
And on their courage and their gods depend.
Nor bright Lavinia* nor Latinus* crown,
Warm their great soul to war, like fair renown.
Venus at last beholds her godlike son
Triumphant, and the field of battle won ;
Brave Tamos slain, strong Ardea bnt a name,
And buried in fierce delnges of flame.
Her towers, that boasted once a sovereign sway,
The fate of fancied grandeur now betray.
A famish'd heron from the ashes springs,
And beats the ruin with disastrous wings.
Calamities of towns distressed she feigns,
And oft, with woful shrieks, of war complains.
THE DEIFICATION OF jENEAA.
Now had Apneas, as ordain'd by fate,
Survived the period of Saturnia's bate ;
And by a sure irrevocable doom
Fix'd the immortal majesty of Rome*
Fit for the station of his kindred stars.
His mother-goddess thus her suit prefers :
' Almighty arbiter, whose powerful nod
Shakes distant earth, and bows our own abode ;
To thy great progeny indulgent be,
And rank the goddess-born a deity.
Already has he viewed, with mortal eyes,
Thy brother's kingdoms of the nether skies.'
Forthwith a conclave of the godhead meets,
• Where Juno in the shining senate sits.
Remorse for past revenge the goddess feels :
Then thundering Jove the' almighty mandate seals;
Allots the prince of his celestial line
An apotheosis, and rites divine.
Hook 14. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 165
The crystal mansions echo with applause,
And, with her graces, love's bright queen withdraws ;
Shoots in a blaze of light along the skies,
And, borne by turtles, to Laurentum flies ;
Alights where through the reeds Numicius strays,
And to the seas his watery tribute pays.
The god she supplicates to wash away f
The parts more gross, and subject to decay, £
And deaase the goddess-born from seminal allay. J
The horned flood with glad attention stands,
Then bids his streams obey their sire's commands.
His better parts by lnstral waves refin'd
More pure, and nearer to ethereal mind,
With gums of fragrant scent the goddess strews,
And on his features breathes ambrosial dews.
Thus deified, new honours Rome decrees,
Shrines, festivals; and styles him Indiges.
THE LINE OF THE L AT IAN JUNGS.
Ascanius now the Latian sceptre sways ;
The Alban nation, Sylvius, next Obeys.
Then young Latinus : next an Alba came,
The grace and guardian of the Alban name;
Then Epitus ; then gentle Capys reign'd j
Then Capetis the regal power sustained.
Next he who perish'd on the Tuscan flood,
And honour' d with his name the river-god.
Now haughty Remulus begun his reign,
Who fell by thunder he aspir'd to feign.
Meek Acrota succeeded to the crown ;
From peace endeavouring, more than arms.
To Aventinus well resigned his throne, [renown
Hie mount on which he ruTd preserves his name,
And Procas wore the regal diadem.
VOL. III. M
:!
166 OVID'S metamorphoses. Book 14.
THE STORY OF VERTUMWU8 AMD POMONA.
A Hans-Dryad flourished in these days,
Her name Pomona, from her woodland race.
In garden culture none could so excel,
Or form the pliant souls of plants so well ;
Or to the fruit more generous flavours lend, .
Or teach the trees with nobler loads to bend.
The nymph frequented not the flattering stream,
Nor meads, the subject of a virgin's dream :
But to such joys her nursery did prefer,
Alone to tend her vegetable care.
A priming-book she carried in her band,
And taught the stragglers to obey command ;
Lest the licentious, and unthrifty bough,
The too. indulgent parent should undo.
She shows how stocks invite to their embrace
A graft, and naturalize a foreign race
To mend the salvage teint ; and in. its stead
Adopt new nature, and a nobler breed.
Now hourly she observes her growing care,
And guards their nonage from the bleaker air :
Then opes her streaming sluices, to supply
With flowing draughts her thirsty family.
Long had she laboured to continue free
Prom chains, of love and nuptial tyranny ;
And in her orchard's small extent immur'd,
Her vow'd virginity she still secur'd.
Oft would loose Pan, and all the lustful train
Of Satyrs, tempt her innocence in vain.
Sflenus, that old dotard, own'd a flame;
And he, that frights the thieves with stratagem
Of sword, and something else too gross to name.
i
Book 14. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 167
Vertnmnus too pursued the maid no less ;
But, with his rivals, shar'd a like success.
To gain access a thousand ways he tries ;
Oft, in the hind, the lover would disguise.
The heedless lout comes shambling on, and seems
Just sweating from the labour of his teams.
Then, from the harvest of the mimic swain
Seems bending with a load of bearded grain.
Sometimes a dresser of the vine he feigns,
And lawless tendrils to their bounds restrains.
Sometimes his sword a soldier shows; his rod,
An angler ; still so various is the god.
Now, in a forehead-cloth some crone he seems,
A staff supplying the defect of limbs ;
Admittance thus he gains ; admires the store
Of fairest fruit ; the fair possessor more ;
Then greets her with a kiss: the' unpractis'd dame
Admired a grandam kiss'd with such a flame.
Now seated by her, he beholds a vine
Around an elm in amorous foldings twine.
' If that fair elm,' he cried, * alone should stand,
No grapes would glow withgold,and tempt the hand :
Or if that vine without her elm should grow,
'Twould creep a poor neglected shrub below.
Be then, fair nymph, by these examples led ;
Nor shun, for fancied fears, the nuptial bed.
Not she for whom the Lapithites took arms,
Nor Sparta's queen, could boast such heavenly
And if you would on woman's faith rely, [charms;
None can your choice direct so well as I.
Though old, so much Pomona I adore,
Scarce does the bright Vertumnus love her more.
Tift your fair self alone his breast inspires
With softest wishes, and unsoH'd desires.
168 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 14.
Then fly all vulgar followers, and prove
The god of seasons only worth your love :
On my assurance weH yon may repose ;
Vertumnns scarce Vertmmras better knows.
True to his choice, all looser flames he flies :
Nor for new faces fashionably dies.
The charms of youth, and every smiling grace,
Bloom in his features, and the god confess.
Besides, he puts on every shape at ease ;
But those the most that best Pomona please.
Still to oblige her is her lover's aim ;
Their likings and aversions are the same.
Nor the fair fnrit your burden'd branches bear,
Nor all the youthfa] product of the year,
Could bribe his choice ; yourself alone can prove
A fit reward for so refin'd a love.
Relent, fair nymph, and with a kind regret
Think tis Vertumnus weeping at your feet.
A tale attend, through Cyprus known, to prove
How Venus once reveng/d neglected love.
THE STORY OF I PHIS AND AN AX ARETE.
' Iphis, of vulgar birth, by chance had view'd
Fair Anaxarete of Teucer's blood :
Not long had he beheld the royal dame,
Ere the bright sparkle kindled into flame.
Oft did he struggle with a just despair,
Unfix'd to ask, unable to forbear :
But love, who flatters still his own disease,
Hopes all things will succeed he knows will please.
Where'er the feir one haunts, he hovers there,
And seeks her confidant with sighs and prayt;
Or letters he conveys, that seldom prove
Successless messengers in suits of love.
If—k 14 OVIDS KBTAMOHPHfUEt- 169
'NowshiveriDgBtliergat.es the wretch appears, )
And myrtle-tarlands on the columns reaia, >
Wet witli a deluge of unbidden tears. )
The nymph, more bard than rocks, more fof than
Derides bis prayers ; insults liis agonies ; fc*I»
Arraigns of insolence the' aspiring swain ;
And lakes a cruel pleasure in bis pain.
Kesolv'd at last to finish his despair,
He Hi us upbraids the' inexorable lair :
"' O Anaxnrctc, at last forget
The license of a passion indiscreet ;
Now triumph ; since a welcome sacrifice
Your slave prepares, to offer to your eyes.
My life, without reluctance, I resign ;
That present best can please a pride like thine,
3tnt, oh I forbear to blast a flame so bright;
Doom'd never to expire but with the light.
Aai job, great powm, do justice to my name;
Hal iovijm take frnsn life restore fat'lkne."
* Tfcm. o'er th>»o*t», ooce hnif with wre**.,
.......... ..i,i*m&m-Q>mt**i*>-:
Atow»t^wr**<Pw*^iwii^^hw*-
'E^k^ttaf^eiattor.andthc u*«^ ,
nun
A«J r.r, It 1« !*»»*,**. a. tie tkrool
PlMMl in mi wMMby **■»
To s*wp tm-wmMtomm ********
*mk aagjs^BJMijwfc abcyefffi,.;
170 CKTDS XSTAHOKPBOSn. Bmk 14.
glow with
THB LATIAS USE COnUCCDl
How Proeas yieldag to the fete, Hi sob,
KM Kaaritor, succeeded to the crown ;
Bet sake AnriiB, with a lawless powY,
At length depos'd his brother NoAmt.
Then fin's vahant issne, with the sword,
Her parent n inthfori*d, the rigjatral lord.
Next Kuasalai to people Roase
The joyoas tiase of Paler* least attires
He aires the word to seiae the Satiat
The aires euragM take aras,hy latins led,
Bold to revenge their violated hid.
A fort there was, not yet unkavwn to raase,
CalPd the Tarpesaa, its coaanfl
This by the tslse Tarpon wa* hetray'd,
Bat death weM i ttunipias'd Ihe
■L
Bottk 14. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 171
The foe on this new-bought success relies,
And, silent, march the city to surprise.
Saturnia's arts with Sabine arms combine ;
But Venus countermines the vain design ;
Intreats the nymphs that o'er the springs preside,
Which near the fane of hoary Janus glide,
To send their succours : every urn they drain,
To stop the Sabines' progress, but in vain.
The Naiads now more stratagems essay ;
And kindling sulphur to each source convey.
The floods ferment, hot exhalations rise,
Till from the scalding ford the army flies.
Soon Romulus appears in shining arms,
And to tlie war the Roman legions warms :
The battle rages, and the field is spread
With nothing but the dying and the dead.
Both sides consent to treat without delay,
And their two chiefs at once the sceptre sway.
But Tatins by Lavmian fury slain,
Great Romulus continued long to reign,
THE ASSUMPTION OF ROMULUS.
"Now warrior Mars his bnrnish'd helm puts on,
And thus addresses heaven's imperial throne :
' Since the inferior world is now become
One vassal globe, and colony to Rome ;
This grace, O Jove ! for Romulus I claim,
Admit hhn to the skies, from whence he came ;
Long hast thou promis'd an ethereal state
To Man's lineage : and thy word is fate.'
The sire that rules the thunder with a nod
Declar'd the fiat, and dismiss'd the god.
Soon as the power armipotent snrvey'd
The flashing skies, the signal he obey'd ;
i
179 0fi0fe njAMomrwem. B—k 14.
ilMy nSMMBJ OW MB nMCC, ST Mnni ME CVy
nil Msry COUCSefS MMMg WIMl IMS Mr J
G— d laws enacting — a pcaccml thrit ;
The scales of heavenly JMtic* holdmg high,
win stesja^ hand and a discerning eye,
Jvl^wM V^UnUPU*V^^ UBUB^U^Un nnU^F UjmUU' A ^OOB^UB> UUW n^^^fc
•wift, as a vying shaft, Rome's
The parte mk pure, in rising are renVd,
The gross and perishable lag behind.
Hit shrine m purple vestment* stands in
He bolts a gsd, and h Quirmus now.
J
the Attcurnom aw hekstxia.
fere long the goddess of the nuptial bed,
pity asoVd^ scuds Iris in her stead
To sad Herswa^-Tbe* dbe Meteor Maid :
'Chaste relief < in bright truth to heaves
The ftabtnes* glory, and the sex's pride;
Honoor'd on earth, and worthy of the lore
Of such a »poose as now resides above ;
Some respite to my killing griefs afford :
And if thou woukfst onee More behold thy lord,
Retire to yon steep Mount, with groves o'erspread,
Which win an awful gloom his temple shade.'
With fear the modest Matron lift* her eyes,
And to the bright ambassadress replies :
' O goddess ! yet to Mortal eyes unknown,
But tare thy various eherm* confess tbee one
Oh! quick to Romnlns thy votaress bear ;
With looks of love hell smile away my care :
In whatever orb he shines, nry heaven if there
Then hastes with Iris to the holy grove,
And up the Mount Qukinal m they Move,
A
^
hook 14. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 173
A lambent flame glides downward through the air,
And brightens with a blaze Hersilia's hair.
Together on the bounding ray they rise,
And shoot a gleam of light along the skies :
With opening arms Qiiiriiras met his bride,
Now Ora nam'd, and press' d her to bis side.
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
BOOK XV.
TRANSLATED BY DRYDEN AXD OTBERS.
THE PTTHAGOKKAH PHILOSOPHY.
A kjbg if soaght to guide the giwBft slate,
One able to support the pabtie weight,
Aad fin the throne where Rofnems had ate.
Renown, which oft bespeaks the public voice,
Had recommended Numa to their choice:
A peaceful, pious prince; who, not content
To know the Sabine rites, his study bent
To cultivate ms mind ; to learn the laws
Of nature, and explore their hidden cause.
Urg'd by ms care, hu country be forsook,
And to Crotona thence his journey took.
Arriv'd, be first inqoir'd the founder's name
Of this new colony, and whence be came?
Then thos a senior of the place replies
(Well read, and anions of antiquities) :
' Tis said, Alcides hither took Ins way
From Spain, and drove along bis conquered prey ;
Then, leaving in the fields bis grazing cows,
He sought himself some hospitable boose :
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 175
Good Croton entertain'd his godlike guest,
While he repairM his weary limbs with rest
The hero, thence departing, bless'd the place;
And here, he said, in time's revolving race
A rising town shall take his name from thee.
Revolving time fulfill'd the prophecy :
For Myscelos, the justest man on earth,
Alemon's son, at Argos had his birth :
Him Hercules, arm'd with his club of oak,
O'ersbadow'd in a dream, and thus bespoke :
M Go, leave thy native soil, and make abode
Where ASsaris rolls down his rapid flood ?"
He said ; and sleep forsook him and the god.
Trembling he wak'd, and rose with anxious heart ;
His country laws forbad him to depart :
What should he do? Twas death to go away,
And the god menae'd if he dar'd to stay.
AH day he doubted ; and when night came on,
Sleep, and the same forewarning dream, begun :
Once more the god stood threatening o'er bis head,
With added curses if he disobey'd.
Twice warn'd, be studied flight ; but would convey
At once his person and his wealth away :
Thus while he lingered his design was heard,
A speedy process fbrm'd, and death declar'd.
Witness there needed none of his offence ;
Against himself the wretch was evidence :
Condemned, and destitute of human aid,
To him, for whom he suffer*d, thus he pray'd :
" O Power, who hast deserv'd in heaven a throne,
Not given, but by thy labours made thy own $
Pity thy suppliant, and protect his cause,
Whom thou hast made obnoxious to the laws.*
*
176 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 1£.
' A custom was of old, and still remains,
Which life or death by suffrages ordains :
White stones and black within an urn are cast ;
The first 'absolve, but fate is in the last
The judges to the common nrn bequeath
Their votes, and drop the sable signs of death ;
The box receives all black, but, pour'd from thence,
The stones came candid forth ; the hue of innocence.
Thus Alemonides his safety won,
Preserv'd from death by Alcumena's son :
Then to his kinsman-god his vows he pays,
And cots with prosperous gales the* Ionian seas :
He leaves Tarentum favour' d by the wind,
And Thnrine bays and Tennises behind j
Soft Sybaris, and all the capes that stand
Along the shore, he makes in sight of land ;
Still doubling, and still coasting, till he found
The month of jEsaris, and promis'd ground ;
Then saw, where on the margin of the flood
The tomb that held the bones of Croton stood :
Here, by the god's command, he built and wall'd
The place predicted, and Crotona call'd.
Thus fame, from time to time, delivers down
The sure tradition of the' Italian town.
' Here dwelt the man divine whom Samoa bore,
But now self-banish'd from bis native shore,
Because he hated tyrants, nor could bear
The chains which none but servile souls will wear.
He, though from heaven remote,. to heaven could
move
With strength of mind, and tread the* abyss above ;
And penetrate, with his interior light,
Those upper depths which nature hid from sight : ,
' IMVifc. OVID'S MaTAkOKPHOlH. 177
And wliat lie lull oliservM nnd learn'd from thence
Lov"d in familiar language to dispense.
' The crowd with silent admiration stand,
And heard luui.a* they heard (heir god's command ;
While lie disconrs'd ol'hea-.-u'. mysterijus I. ins.
The world's original, and nature's cause;
And what was God; and why the fleecy snows
In silence fell, mid r.idlin^ ivimli arose;
Wliat shook the steadfast earth, and whence begun
The dance uf planets round the radiant sun;
If thunder was the voice of angry Jove,
Or clouds, with nitre pregnant, hurst above ;
Of these, and things beyond the common reach,
He spoke; and charm' d his audience with his
' He first the taste of flesh from tables drove,
And arpued well, if argnnients could move.
O mortals! from your fellows' blood abstain,
Nor taint your bodies with a food profane 1
While corn and polie by nature are bestow'd,
And planted orchards liend their willing load ;
While lubiiui'd gardens wholesome herbs produce,
And teeming vines aftbrd their generous juice;
Nor tardier fruit; of cruder kind are lost,
But tam'd with fire, or mellow'd by the frost;
While kine to pails distended adders bring,
AMI Met nretr Doney reaolent ot sprttur ;
mile earth not only em your needs Apply,
SbtJAtUi of her (tore, providei far hmrj;
And wrfiYMt blond is prmhgal to plnae.
ffQa ta&tl thrfr maws with tfielr ahdn
And jot nofanV ftr Kant reftw to kill;
Sheep, goats, tad oxen, and Hie nobler steed,
On browse, tad corn, rod flowery meadows, feed.
Bean, tigers, wolves, the Bon* angry brood,
(Whom heaven endued with principles of blood)
He wisely sunder'd from the rest, to yell
In forests, and in lonely cares to dwell ;
Where stronger beasts oppress the weak by might,
And all in prey and purple feasts delight.
' O impious use ! to nature's laws oppos'd,
Where bowels are in other bowels clos'd :
Where, fattened by their fellows' fet, they thrive;
Maintained by murder, and by death they live.
Tu then for nought that mother-earth provides
The stores of all she shows, and all she hides;
If men with fleshy morsels most be fed,
And chew with bloody teeth the breathing bread :
What else is this, but to devour our guest*,
And barbarously renew Cyclopean feasts ?
We, by destroying life, our life sustain ;
And gorge the* ungodly maw with meats obscene.
' Not so the golden age, who fed on fruit,
Nor durst with bloody meals their mouths pollute.
Then birds in airy space might safely move,
And timorous hares on heaths securely rove :
Nor needed fish the guileful books to fear,
For all was peaceful ; and that peace sincere.
Whoever was the wretch (and curs'd be he)
That envied first our food's simplicity,
The* essay of bloody feasts on brutes began.
And after forg'd the sword to murder man. *
Had be the sharpen'd steel alone employed
On beasts of prey, that other beasts destroy*d,
Or man invaded with their fangs and paws,
This had been justified by nature's laws,
■■}
Book J 5. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 179
And self-defence : but who did feasts begin
Of flesh, he stretch'd necessity to sin.
To kill man-killers man has lawful powY,
Bat not the* extended license to devour.
4 III habits gather by unseen degrees.
As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.
The sow, with her broad snout, for rooting up
The* intrusted seed, was judg'd to spoil the crop,
And intercept the sweating farmer's hope :
The covetous churl, of unforgiving kind,
The* offender to the bloody priest resigned :
Her hunger was no plea : for that she died.
The goat came next in order to be tried :
The goat bad cropp'd the tendrils of the vine :
In vengeance laity and clergy join,
Where one bad lost his profit, one his wine.
Here was at least some shadow of offence ;
The sheep was sacrific'd on no pretence,
But meek and unresisting innocence.
A patient, useful creature, born to bear [derer,
The warm and woolly fleece that cloth'd her mur-
And daily to give down the milk she bred,
A tribute for the grass on which she fed.
Living, both food and raiment she supplies,
And is of least advantage when she dies.
* How did the toiling ox his death deserve,'
A downright simple drudge, and born to serve?
O tyrant! with what justice canst thou hope
The promise of the year, a plenteous crop ;
When thou destroy *st thy labouring steer, who till'd
And plough'd with pains thy else ungrateful field?
From bis yet reeking neck to draw the yoke;
That ueck, with which the surly clods he broke;
r
180 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. B—k 1&
And to the hatchet yield thy husbandman,
Who finish' d autumn, and the spring began 1
* Nor this alone ; but, heaven itself to bribe,
We to the gods our impious acts ascribe :
First recompense with death their creatures toil,
Then call the btess'd above to share the spoil :
The fairest victim must the powers appease ;
(So fetal tis sometimes too ranch to afcasel)
A purple fillet his broad brows adorns,
With flowery garlands crown'd, and gflded bona:
He hears the murderous prayer.the priest prefers,
But understands nottis bis doom he hears;
Beholds the meal betwixt his temples cast,
(The fruit and products ai bis labours past);
And in the water views perhaps the knife
Uplifted to deprive him of his life ;
Then broken up alive, his entrails sees
Torn out, for priests to1 inspect the gods' decrees.
' From whence, O mortal men! this gust of blood
Have you deriv'd, and interdicted food ?
Be taught by me this dire delight to shun,
Warn'd by my precepts, by my practice won ;
And when you eat the well-deserving beast,
Think, on the labourer of your field you feast!'
Now since the god inspires me to proceed,
Be that, whate'er inspiring power, obeyM.
For I will sing of mighty mysteries,
Of truths conceal'd before from human eyes ,
Dark oracles unveil, and open all the skies.
Pleas'd as I am to walk along the sphere
Of shining stars, and travel with the year ;
To leave the heavy earth, and scale the height
Of Atlas, who supports the heavenly weight;
-!
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 181
To look from upper light, and thence survey
Mistaken mortals wandering from the way.
And wanting wisdom ; fearful for the state
Of future things, and trembling at their rate !
' Those I would teach, and by right reason bring
To think of death as but an idle thing*
Why thus affrighted at an empty name,
A dream of darkness and fictitious flame?
Vain themes of wit, which but in poems pass,
And fables of a world that never was !
What feels the body when the soul expires,
$y time corrupted, or consum'd by fires;
Nor dies the spirit, but new life repeats
In other forms, and only changes seats.
* Ev'n I, who these mysterious truths declare,
Was once Euphorbus in the Trojan war;
My name and lineage I remember well,
And how in fight by Sparta's king I fell*
In Argive Juno's nine I late beheld
My buckler, bung on high, and own'd my former
shield.
4 Then, death, so call'd, is but old matter dress'd
In some new figure, and a varied vest :
Thus all things are but altered, nothing dies ;
And here and there the' unbodied spirit fifes,
By time, or force, or sickness dispossessed,
And lodges, where it lights, in man or beast ;
Or hunts without, till ready limbs it find,
And actuates those according to their kind ;
From tenement to tenement is toss'd,
The soul is still the same, the figure only lost :
And, as the soften'd wax new seals receives,
This face assumes, and that impression leaves ;
VOL. III. N
I
182 OVln'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 15.
Now cali'd by one, now by another name ;
The form is only chmg'd, the wax ii still the same:
So death, so call'd, can but the form deface,
The* immortal sonl flies ont in empty space*
To seek her fortune in some other place.
• Then let not piety be put to flight
To please the taste of glutton appetite;
But suffer inmate souls secure to dwell,
Lest from their seats your parent yon expel;
With rabid hunger feed upon your kind,
Or from a beast dislodge a brother's mind.
4 And since, like Typhis parting from the short,
In ample seas 1 sail, and depths untried before,
This let me further add ; that nature knows
No stedfast station, but or ebbs or flows :
Ever in motion, she destroys her old,
And casts new figures in another mould.
Ev'n times are in perpetual flux, and run
Like rivers from their fountain, rolling on;
For time, no more than streams, is at a stay;
The flying hour is ever on her way :
And as the fountain still supplies her store,
The wave bcttnd impels the wave before ;
Thus in successive course the minutes ran,
And urge their predecessor minutes on,
Still moving, ever new : for former things
Are set aside, like abdicated kings ;
And every moment alters what is done,
And innovates some act, till then unknown.
* Darkness we see emerges into light,
And shining suns descend to sable night ;
Ev'n heaven itself receives another dye, *
When wearied animals in slumbers lie
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 185
Of midnight ease : another, when the grey
Of morn precludes the splendour of the day.
The disk of Phcebus, when he climbs on high,
Appears at first bnt as a bloodshot eye ;
And when his chariot downward drives to bed,
His ball is with the same suffusion red;
Bnt, mounted high in his meridian race.
All bright he shines, and with a- better face :
For there pure particles of ether flow,
Far from the1 infection of the world below.
' Nor equal light the' unequal moon adorns,
Or in her wexing or her waning horns :
For every day she wanes, her race is less ;
But, gathering into globe, she rattens at increase.
' Perceiv'st thou not the process of the year, )
How the four seasons in four forms appear, >
Resembling human life in every shape they wear? )
Spring first, like infancy, shoots out her head,
With milky juice requiring to be fed :
Helpless though fresh, and wanting to be led.
The green stem grows in stature and in size,
But only feeds with hope the farmer's eyes :
Then laughs the childish year with fiow'rets
And lavishly perfumes the fields around : [crown'd,
But no substantial nourishment receives ;
Infirm the stalks, unsolid are the leaves.
* Proceeding onward when the year began,
The summer grows adult, and- ripens into man.
This season, as in man, is most replete
With kindly moisture, and prolific heat
' Autumn succeeds ; a sober tepid age,
Not froze with fear, nor boiling into rage ;
More than mature, and tending to decay, [grey.
When oar brown locks repine to mix with odious
J 84 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 15.
' Last, Winter creeps along with tardy pace,
Sour is his front, and furrow'd is his face ;
His scalp, if not dishonour'd quite of hair, [bare.
The ragged fleece is thin ; and thin is worse than
Ev'n our own bodies daily change receive,
Some part of what was theirs before they leave;
Nor are to-day what yesterday they were ;
Nor the whole same to-morrow will appear.
* Time was when we were sow'd, and just began,
From some few fruitful drops, the promise of a man :
Then nature's hand (fermented as it was)
Moulded to shape the soft coagulated mass ;
And when the little man was fully form'd,
The breathless embryo with a spirit warm'd ;
But when the mother's throes begin to come,
The creature, pent within the narrow room,
Breaks his blind prison, pushing to repair
His stifled breath, and draw the living air;
Cast on the margin of the world he lies,
A helpless babe, but by instinct he cries.
He next essays to walk, but downward press'd
On four feet, imitates his brother beast :
By slow degrees he gathers from the ground
His legs, and to the rolling chair is bound ;
Then walks alone ; a horseman now become,
He rides a stick, and travels round the room.
In time he vaunts among his youthful peers, [years,
Strong-bon'd, and strung with nerves, in pride of
He runs with mettle his first merry stage,
Maintains the next, abated of his rage,
But manages his strength, and spares his age.
Heavy the third, and stiff, he sinks apace ;
And though 'tis downhill all, but creeps along the
race.
\
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 185
Now, sapless, on the verge of death he stands,
Contemplating his former feet and bands ;
And, Milo-like, his slackened sinews sees,
And witherM arms, once fit to cope with Her-
cules;
Unable now to shake, much less to tear, the trees.
1 So Helen wept, when her too faithful glass
Reflected on her eyes the ruins of her face :
Wondering what charms her ravishers could spy,
To force her twice, or ev*n but once to' enjoy.
Thy teeth, devouring Time ! thine, envious age !
On things below still exercise your rage :
With venom'd grinders you corrupt your meat,
And then, at lingering meals, the morsels eat.
* Nor those, which elements we call, abide,
Nor to this figure, nor to that are tied ;
For tiiis eternal world is said, of old,
But four prolific principles to hold,
Four different bodies ; two to heaven ascend,
And other two down to the centre tend :
Fire first with wings expanded mounts on high,
Pure, void of weight, and dwells in upper sky;
Then air, because unclog'd in empty space,
Flies after fire, and claims the second place:
But weighty water, as her nature guides,
Lies on file lap of earth, and mother earth subsides.
' AH things are mix'd of these, which all contain,
And into these are all resolv'd again:
Earth rarities to dew; expanded more,
The subtile dew in air begins to soar ;
Spreads, as she flies ; and, weary of her name,
Extenuates still, and changes into flame :
Thus having* by degrees perfection won,
Restless they soon untwist the web they spun ;
186 OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. Book 15.
And fire begins to lose her radiant hue,
Mix*d with gross air, and air descends to dew;
And dew, condensing, does her form forego,
And sinks, a heavy kunp of earth below.
* Thus are their figures never at a stand,
But chang'd by nature* innovating hand ;
All things are altered, nothing is destroyed,
The shifted scene for some new show employ'd.
' Then, to be born, is to begin to be
Some other thing we were not formerly :
And what we call to die, is not to' appear
Or be the thing that formerly we were.
Those very elements, which we partake
Alive, when dead some other bodies make :
Translated grow, have sense, or can discourse ;
But death on deathless substance has no force.
' That forms are chang'd, I grant ; that nothing
Continue in the figure it began : [can
The golden age to silver was debas'd ;
To copper that ; our metal came at last.
' The race of places and tbeir forms decay,
And that is solid earth that once was sea :
Seas, in their turn retreating from the shore,
Make solid land what ocean was before ;
And far from strands are shells of fishes found,
And rusty anchors fix'd on mountain ground :
And what were fields before, now wash'd and worn
By falling floods from high, to valleys turn,
And crumbling still descend to level lands;
And lakes and trembling bogs are barren sands.
And the parch'd desert floats in streams unknown;
Wondering to drink of waters not her own.
* Here nature living fountains opes,, and there
Seals up the wombs where living fountains were;
*
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 18?
Or earthquakes stop their ancient course, and bring
Diverted streams to feed a distant spring.
So Lyciis, swallow'd up, is seen no more ;
But far from thence knocks out another door*
Thus Erasinus dives ; and blind in earth
Runs on, and gropes his way to second birth ;
Starts up in Argos' meads, and shakes his locks
Around the fields, and fattens all the flocks.
So Mysus by another way is led,
And, grown a river, now disdains has head :
Forgets his humble birth, bis name forsakes,
And the proud title of Caicns takes.
Large Amenane, impure with yellow sands,
Runs rapid often, and as often stands,
And here he threats the drunken fields to drown,
And there his dugs deny to give their liquor down.
' Anjgros once did wholesome draughts afford
But now his deadly waters are abhor*d :
Since, hurt by Hercules, as fame resounds,
The Centaurs in his current wash'd their wounds.
The streams of Hypanis are sweet no more,
But, brackish, lose the taste they had before.
Antissa, Pharos, Tyre, in seas were pent,
Once isles, but now increase the continent ;
While the Leucadian coast, main land before,
By rushing seas is sever'd from the shore*
So Zancle to the' Italian earth was tied,
And men once walk'd where ships at anchor ride ;
Till Neptune overlooked the narrow way,
And in disdain pour'd in the conquering sea.
'Two cities thatadorn'd the* Achaian ground,
Boris and Helice.no more are found,
Bat whelra'd beneath a lake are sunk and drown*
188 ovid'6 metamorphoses. Book 16.
And boatsmen through the crystal water show
To wondering passengers the walls below.
' Near Troeten stands a hill, expos'd in air
To winter winds, of leafy shadows bare :
This once was level ground : but (strange to tell)
The* included vapours, that in caverns dwell,
Labouring with colic pang?, and close confin'd.
In vain sought issue for the rumbling wind:
Yet still they heav'd for vent, and heaving still
Enlarg'd the concave, and shot op the hill;
As breath extends a bladder, or the skins
Of goats are blown to* inclose the hoarded wines:
The mountain yet retains a mountain's nice,
And gather*d rubbish heals the hollow space.
Of many wonders, which I heard or knew,
Retrenching most, I will relate but few :
What, are not springs with qualities oppos'd,
Endued at seasons, and at seasons lost ?
Thrice in a day thine, Ammon, change their form,
Cold at high noon, at mom and evening warm:
Thine, Athaman, will kindle wood, if thrown
On the pil'd earth, and in the waning moon.
The Thracians have a stream, if any try
The taste, his hardened bowels petrify :
Wbate'er it touches it converts to stones,
And makes a marble pavement where it runs.
' Cratbis, and Sybaris her sister-flood,
That slide through our Calabrian neighbour wood,
With gold and amber dye the shining hair, [fair ?)
And thither youth resort: (for who would not be
c But stranger virtues yet in streams we find,
Some change not only bodies but the mind :
Who has not heard of Salmacis obscene,
Whose waters into women soften men ?
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 189
Or -/Ethiopian lakes, which turn the brain
To madness, or in heavy Sleep constrain ?
Clytorian streams the love of wine expel,
(Such is the virtue of the* abstemious well,)
Whether the colder nymph that rules the flood
Extinguishes, and balks the drunken god ;
Or that Melampus (so have soma assured)
When the mad Prcetides with charms he curM,
And powerful herbs, both charms and simples cast
Into the sober spring, where still their virtues last.
' Unlike effects Lyncestis will produce :
Who drinks his waters, though with moderate use,
Reels as with wine, and sees with double sight ;
His heels too heavy, and his head too light.
Ladon, once Pheneos, an Arcadian stream,
(Ambiguous in the' effects, as in the name)
By day is wholesome beverage, but is thought
By night infected, and a deadly draught.
* Thus running rivers, and the standing lake,
Now of these virtues, now of those partake :
Time was (and all things time and fate obey)
When fast Ortygia floated on the sea ;
Such were Cyanean isles, when Typhis steer'd
Betwixt their straits, and their collision feaiM :
They swam, where now they sit; and firmly johfd,
Secure of rooting up, resist the wind.
Nor iEtna vomiting sulphureous (ire
Will ever belch ; for sulphur will expire,
(The veins exhausted of the liquid store :) [more.
Time was, she cast no flames ; in time will cast no
' For whether earth's an animal, and air
Imbibes, her lungs with coolness to repair,
And what she sucks remits ; she still requires
Inlets for air, and outlets for her fires ;
k
390 OVltfS METAMORPHOSES. B—k 15.
When tortor'd with convulsive fits eke whwkcn,
That motion chokes the vent, tUl other rent she
makes: .
Or when the winds in noUow caret are dos'd,
Awl aahtle spirits find that way opposM,
They toes up flints in air ; the flints that hide
The aeedi of fire, thin toss*d in air, cottde,
Kindling the sulphur; till the fuel spent,
The cave is coord, an4 the fame winds relent
' Or whether «UpliBr,catdiingBn,6edftoii
Its imctaoas parts till all the matter gone
The denies no more ascend; for earth supplies
The fat mas mods them : and when earth denies
That food, hy length of time consnaa'd j the fire,
Paraish'd for want of fuel, mast expire*
' A race of men there are, as fame has told,
Who shivering suffer Hyperborean cold,
Till nine times bathing in Minerva's lake,
Soft feathers, to defend their naked sides, they take.
TU said, the Scythian wives (believe who wiU)
Transform themselves to birds by magic skill ;
SmearM over with an oil of wondrous might,
That adds new pinions to their airy flight.
* Bat this by sore experiment we know.
That living creatures from corruption grow. .
Hide in a hollow pit a slaughtered steer,
Bees from his putrid bowels will appear j
Who, like their parents, haunt the fields,and bring
Their honey-harvest home, and hope another spring.
The warlike steed is multiplied, we find,
To wasps and hornets of the warrior kind.
Cut from a crab his crooked claws, and aide
The rest in earth, a scorpion thence will glide,
i
Book 15. ovid's metamorphoses. 191
And shoot his sting ; his tail in circles toss'd
Refers the limbs his backward father lost :
And worms, that stretch on leaves their fibuy loom,
Crawl from their bags, and butterflies become.
Ev'n slime begets the frog's loquacious race ;
Short of their feet at first, in little space
With arms and legs endued, long leaps they take
Rais'd on their hinder part, and swim the lake,
And waves repel : for nature gives their kind,
To that intent, a length of legs behind.
' The cubs of bears a living lnmp appear
When whelp'd, and no determin'd figure wear.
Their mother licks them into shape, and gives
As much of form as she herself receives.
* The grubs from their sexangular abode
Crawl out unfinished, like the maggot's brood :
Trunks without limbs; till time at leisure brings
The thighs they wanted, and their tardy wings.
' The bird who draws the car of Juno, vain
Of her crown'd head, and of her starry train ;
And he that bears the' artillery of Jove,
The strong-pounc'd eagle, and the billing dove •,
And all the feather'd kind, who could suppose \
(But that from sight, the surest sense he knows) f
They from the1 included yolk, not ambient white, f
arose? )
' There are, who think the marrow of a man,
Which in the spine, while he was living, ran ;
When dead, the pith corrupted will become
A snake, and hiss within the hollow tomb.
' All these receive their birth from other things ;
But from himself the phoenix only springs :
8elf-born, begotten by the parent flame
In which be burn'd, another and the same ;
t9£ <mi>'s METAMORPHOSES. Book 15.
Who not by corn or herbs his life sustains,
But the sweet essence of Amomnm drains ;
And watches the rich gum Arabia bears,
While yet in tender dew they drop their tears.
He, (oil five centuries of life rbJfill'd)
His nest on oaken boughs begins to build.
Or trembling tops of palm : and first he draws
The plan with his broad bill and crooked claws,
Nature's artificers ; on this the pile
Is forra'd, and rises round, then with the spoil
Of Cassia, Cinnamon, and stems of Nard,
(For softness strew'd beneath) his funeral bed is
rear'd:
Funeral and bridal both, and all around
The borders with corruptless myrrh are crown'd.
On this incumbent, till ethereal flame
First catches, then consumes the costly frame ;
Consumes him too as on the pile he lies,
He Kv'd on odours, and in odours dies.
' An infant phcenix from the former springs.
His father's heir, and from his tender wings
Shakes off his parent dust ; his method he pursues,
And the same lease of life on the same terms renews.
When grown to manhood he begins his reign,
And with stiff pinions can bis flight sustain ;
He lightens of its load the tree that bore
His father's royal sepulchre before,
And his own cradle : this with pious care
Plac'd on his back, he cots the buxom air,
Seeks the sun's city and his sacred church,
And decently lays down his burden in the porch.
* A wonder more amazing would we find?
The' hyaena shows it, of a double kind ;
Book 15. ovid's metamorphoses. 19S
Varying the sexes in alternate years,
In one begets, and in another bears.
The thin camelion, fed with air, receives
The colour of the thing to which he cleaves.
' India when conquer'd, on the conquering god
For planted vines the sharp-eyed lynx bestow'd ;
Whose urine shed before it touches earth.
Congeals in air, and gives to gems their birth :
So coral soft, and white in ocean's bed,
Comes hardened op in air, and glows with red.
* All changing species should my song recite,
Before I ceas'd would change the day to night.
Nations and empires flourish and decay,
By turns command, and in their turns obey :
Time softens hardy people, time again
Hardens to war a soft unwarlike train.
Thus Troy for ten long years ber foes withstood,
And, daily bleeding, bore the* expense of blood :
Now for thick streets jt shows an empty space,
Or only fill'd with tombs of her own perish'd race
Herself' becomes the sepulchre of what she was
' Mycene, Sparta, Thebes of mighty fame,
Are vanish'd out of substance into name ;
And Dardan Rome, that just begins to rise
On Tiber's banks, in time shall mate the skies :
Widening her bounds, and working on her way,
Ev*n now she meditates imperial sway.
Yet this is change ; but she by changing thrives,
Like moons new-born, and in her cradle strives
To fill her infant- horns; an hour shall come
When the round world shall be contain'd in Rome
4 For thus old saws foretel, and Helenas
Anchises' drooping son enliven'd thus;
When Ilium now was in a sinking state,
And he was doubtful of his future fate :
}
194 Ovid's metamorphoses. Book 15.
" O goddess-born ! with tby hard fort tine strive,
Troy never caii be lost, and thou alive.
Thy passage thou shalt tree through fire and sword ,
And Troy in foreign lands shall be restored.
In happier fields a rising town I see
Greater than whate'er was, or is, or e'er shall be :
And Heaven yet owes the world a race deriv'd
from thee.
.Sages and chiefs, of other lineage born,
The city shall extend, extended shall adorn :
Bat from Iiitas he most draw bis breath,
By whom thy Rome shall rale the conqaer'd earth :
Whom Heaven will lend mankind on earth to reign.
And late reqnire the precious pledge again.
This Helenas to great AZneas told,
Which I retain, e'er since in other mould
My sonl was cloth'd, and now rejoice to view
My conntry walls rebuilt, and Troy revived anew ;
Rais'd by the Fall, decreed by loss to gain,
Emlav'd bnt to be free, and conqaer'd but to reign.
* Tis time my hard-month'd coursers to control,
Apt to run riot, and transgress the goal ;
And therefore I conclude, whatever lies
In earth, or flits in air, or fills the skies,
All suffer change ; and we, that are of soul
And body mix'd, are members of the whole.
Then when our sires or grandsires shall forsake
The forms of men, and brutal figures take ;
Thus hous'd, securely let their spirits rest,
Nor violate thy rather in the beast ;
Thy friend, thy brother, any of thy kin,
If none of these, yet there's a man within :
Oh f spare to make a Thyestsan meal,
To' inclose his body, and his soul expel.
Book 15. OVIU'S METAMORPHOSES. 195
' III customs by degrees to habits rise,
til habits soon become exalted vice :
What more advance can mortals make in sia
So near perfection, who with blood begin ?
Deaf to the calf that lies beneath the knife,
Looks up, and from her butcher begs her life.
Deaf to the harmless kid, that ere he dies }
All methods to procure thy mercy tries, >
And imitates in vain thy children's cries. S
Where will be stop, who reeds with household bread,
Then eats the poultry, which before he fed?
Let plough thy steers, that when they lose their
breath,
To nature, not to thee, they may impute their death.
Let goats for food their loaded udders lend,
And sheep from winter cold thy sides defend ;
But neither sprindges, nets, nor snares employ,
And be no more ingenious to destroy.
Free as in air, let birds on earth remain,
Nor let insidious glue their wings constrain ;
Nor opening hounds the trembling stag affright,
Nor purple feathers intercept his flight :
Nor hooks conceal'd in baits for fish prepare,
Nor lines to heave 'em twinkling up in air.
' Take not away the life you cannot give,
For all things have an equal right to live ;
Kill noxious creatures, where 'tis sin to save,
This only just prerogative we have ;
But nourish life with vegetable food,
And shun the sacrilegious taste of blood.
These precepts by the Samian sage were taught,
Which godlike Numa to the Sabines brought ;
And thence transfer^ to Rome by gift his own,
A willing people, and an offer'd throne :
196 OVID'S METAMOUPHOSES. B»ok 15.
O happy monarch ! teat by Heaven to bless
A savage nation with soft arts of peace,
To teach religion, rapioe to restrain,
Give law* to hut, and sacrifice ordain :
Himself a saint, a goddess was fab bride,
And all the Moses o'er bis acts preside.
THE STORY OF HJPPOLYTUS.
BY CATCOTT.
1 Advanced in years he died ; one common date
His reign concluded, and bis mortal state.
Their tears plebeians and patricians shed,
And psoas matrons wept their monarch dead.
His mournful wife, her sorrows to bewail,
Withdrew from Rome, and sought tfa* Arician vale.
Hid in thick woods, she made incessant moans,
Disturbing Cynthia's sacred rites with groans.
How oft the nymphs, who raid the wood and lake,
Reprov'd her tears, and words of comfort spake;
How oft, in vain, the Son of Theseus said,
" Thy stormy sorrows be with patience laid ;
Nor are thy fortunes to be wept alone,
Weigh others' woes, and learn to bear thine own.
Be mine an instance to assoage thy grief: [lief.**
Wonld mine were none! — yet mine may bring re-
' You've heard, perhaps, in conversation told,
What once befel Hippolytus of old ;
To death by Theseus' easy faith betray'd,
And caught in snares bis wicked stepdame laid.
The wondrous tale your credit scarce may claim,
Yet (strange to say) in me behold the same ;
Whom lustful Phaedra oft had press'd, in vain,
With impious joys my lather's bed to stain;
Book 15. 'FID'S METAMORPHOSES. 197
Till seiz'd with fear, or by revenge inspir'd,
She charg'd on me the crimes herself desir*d ;
Expell'd by Theseus, from his home I fled
With heaps of curses on my guiltless head.
Forlorn I sought Pitthean Trcezerfs land.
And drove my chariot o'er Corinthus' strand ;
When from the surface of the level main
A billow rising, heav'd above the plain ;
Rolling and gathering, till so high it swell'd,
A mountain's height the' enormous mass excell'd ;
Then bellowing, burst; when from the summit
A horned bull his ample chest upbeav'd. [cleav'd,
His mouth and uostrits, storms of briny rain,
Expiring, blew. Dread horror seiz'd my train.
I stood unmov'd. My father's cruel doom
Claim'd all my soul, nor fear could find a room.
Amaz'd awhile my trembling coursers stood,
With prick'd-up ears, contemplating the flood ;
Then starting sudden from the dreadful view, }
At once, like lightning, from the seas they flew, f
And o'er the craggy rocks the rattling chariot f .
drew. J
In vain to stop the hot-mouth'd steeds I tried,
And bending backward all my strength applied;
The frothy foam in driving flakes distains
The bits and bridles, and bedews the reins.
But though, as jpt untam'd they run, at length
Their heady rage had tir'd beneath my strength ;
When in the spokes a stump entangling^ tore, . -
The shatter'd wheel, and from its axle bore.
The shock impetuous tost me from the seat
Caught in the reins beneath my horses' feet ;
My reeking guts drag'd out alive, around
The jagged stump my trembling nerves were wound?
vol. in. o
198 OYID'f METAMORPHOSES. Book J 5.
Then stretdfd tbe wefl-knit limbs, in pieces haPd,
Part stock behind, and part the chariot tiajFd;
Till midst my crackling joints and breaking bones,
I breath'd away my wearied soul in groans.
No part distingnisn'd from the rest was found,
Bat afl my parts an universal wound.
* Now say, self- tortur*d nymph, canryon compare
Our griefs as equal, or injustice dare?
I saw besides the darksome realms of woe,
And baoYd my wounds in smoking streams below.
There I had stay*d, nor second life enjoyM,
But Bean's son his wondrous art employed :
To light restor*d, by medicinal skill,
In spite ai fate, and rigid Pluto's wilt
Tbe* invidious object to preserve from view,
A misty cloud around me Cynthia threw ;
And, lest my sight should stir my foes to rage,
She stamp*d my visage with tbe marks of age.
My former hue was changed, and for it shown
A set of features, and a race unknown.
Awhile the goddess stood in doubt, or Crete
Or Debs' isle, to choose for my retreat.
Delos and Crete reras'd, this wood she chose,
Bade me my former luckless name depose,
Which kept alive the memory of my woes ;
Then said, " Immortal life be thine ! and tbou,
Hippolytos once call'd, be Virbius now."
Here then a god, but of the* inferior race,
I serve ihy goddess, and attend her chase.'
EGERIA TRAH8FORMED TO A FOUNTAI*.
But others' woes were useless to appease
Pgeria's grief, or set her mind at
Book 13. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 199
Beneath the hill all comfortless she laid.
The dropping tears her eyes incessant shed.
Till pitying Phoebe eas'd her pious woe,
Thaw'd to a spring, whose streams for ever flow.
The nymphs and Virbius, like amazement filPd,
As seiz'd the swains, who Tyrrhene farrows till'd;
When heaving up, a olod was seen to roll,
Untouch'd, self-mov'd, and big with human soul.
The spreading mass in former shape depos'd,
Began to shoot, and arms and legs disclos'd,
Till form'd a perfect man, the living mold
Op'd its new mouth, and future truths foretold;
And Tages nam'd by natives of the place,
Taught arts prophetic to the Tuscan race.
Or such as once by Romulus was shown,
Who saw his lance with sprouting leaves o'ergrown,
When fix'd in earth the point began to shoot,
And growing downward turn'd a fibrous root :
While spread aloft, the branching arms displayed,
O'er wondering crowds, an unexpected shade.
THE STORY OF C1PPU8.
BY DR. GARTH.
Or as when Cippus in the current view'd
The shooting horns that on his forehead stood ;
His temples first he feels, and with surprise
His touch confirms the' assurance of his eyes.
Straight to the skies his horned front he rears,
And to the gods directs these pious prayers.
' If this portent be prosperous, O decree
To Rome the* event ; if otherwise, to me T
An altar then of turf he hastes to raise,
Rich gums in fragrant exhalations blaae j
fOO OYW'f MRAMORFHOKS. 2*00*15.
The panting entrails crackle as they fry,
And boding fames pronounce a mystery,
toon as the aognr saw the holy fire,
And victims with presaging signs expire ;
To Qppos then he turns his eyes with speed,
And views the horny honours of his head :
Then cried, ' Hail, conqueror! thy call obey,
Those omens I behold presage thy sway.
Rome waits thy nod, imwOhng to be free,
And owns thy sovereign power as fate's decree.'
He said — and Cippus, starting at the' event.
Spoke in these words his pious discontent :
' Far hence, ye gods ! this execration send,
And the great race of Romulus defend.
Better that I in exile live abhor'd,
Than ere the capitol should style me lord.'
This spoke, he hides with leaves his omen'd head,
Then prays, the senate next convenes, and said :
' If augnrs can foresee, a wretch is come,
Designed by destiny the bane of Rome.
Two horns (most strange to tell) his temples crown ;
If ere he pass the walls and gain the town,
Your laws are forfeit that ill-rated hour,
And liberty must yield to lawless powY.
Your gates he might have entered, but this arm
Seized the usurper, and withheld the harm.
Haste, find the monster out, and let him be
Condemn'd to all the Senate can decree;
Or tied in chains, or into exile thrown,
Or by the tyrant's death prevent your own.'
The crowd such murmurs utler as they stand,
As swelling surges breaking on the strand:
Or as when gathering gales sweep o'er the grove,
And their tall heads the bending cedars move :
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 201
Each with confusion gaz*d, and then began
To feel his fellow's brows, and find the man.
Cippns then shakes his garland off, and cries,
* The wretch yon want, I ofier to yonr eyes.'
The anxious throng look'd down, and sad in
thought,
All wish'd they had not found the sign they sought :
In haste with laurel-wreaths his head they bind ;
Such hononr to such virtue was assign'd.
Then thus the senate—' Hear, O Cippus ! hear;
So godlike is thy tutelary care,
That since in Rome thyself forbids thy stay,
For thy abode those acres we convey [day.
The ploughshare can surround, the labour
In deathless records thou sfcalt stand enrolTd,
And Rome's rich posts shall shine with horns of gold.
* 1
[day. V
of a)
THE OCCASION OF JBSCULAP1US BEING BROUGHT
TO ROME.
BY WELSTED.
Melodious maids of Pindus ! who inspire
The flowing strains, and tune the vocal lyre ;
Tradition's secrets are unlock'd to you,
Old tales revive, and ages past renew ;
You, who can hidden causes best expound,
Say, whence the isle which Tiber flows around,
Its altars with a heavenly stranger grac*d,
And in our shrines the god of physic placed.
A wasting plague infected Latranrt skies ;
Pale bloodless looks were seen, with ghastly eyes;
The dire disease's marks each visage wore,
And the pure blood was chang/d to putrid gore :
In vain were human remedies applied ;
In vain the power of healing herbs was tried :
I
tOt OVID'S MBTAMOKVHMM. Basil*
Wearied with death, they seek celestial aid,
And visit Phonos in bis Delphic shade.
In the world's centre sacred DeJphos stands,
And gives its oracles to distant lands :
Here they implore the god, with fervent vows,
His salutary power to interpose.
And end a great afflicted city's woes.
The holy temple sodden tremors prov*d ;
The laorel-grove and all its quivers mov'd :
(In hollow sounds the priestess thus began;
And through each bosom thrilling horrors ran)
' The* assistance, Roman 1 which you here implore.
Seek from another, and a nearer shore ;
Relief most be implorM, and succour won,
Not from Apollo, but ^poUo'sson;
My son, to Latium bom, shall bring redress :
Go with good omens, and expect success.'
When these clear oracles the senate knew,
The sacred tripod's counsels they pursue ;
Depute a pious and a chosen band,
Who sail to Epidaurus' neighbouring land.
Before the Grecian elders when they stood,
They pray 'em to bestow the healing god :
* Ordain'd was he to save Ausonia's state ;
So promis'd Delphos, and unerring fate.'
Opinions various their debates enlarge :
Some plead to yield to Rome the sacred charge j
Others, tenacious of their country's wealth,
Refuse to grant the power, who guards its health.
While dubious they remain'd, the wasting hgbt
Withdrew before the growing shades of night;
Thick darkness now obscurM the dusky skies :
Now, Roman, clos'd in sleep were mortal eyes,
%
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES, 203
a
When health's auspicious god appears to thee,
And thy glad dreams his form celestial see :
In his left hand, a rural staff preferred,
His right is seen to stroke his decent beard,
1 Dismiss/ said he, with- mildness all divine,
'Dismiss your fears ; I come, and leave my shrine.
This serpent view, that with ambitious play
My staff encircles, mark him every way ;
His form, though larger, nobler, I'll assume,
And chang'd, as gods should be, bring aid to Rome.'
Here fled the vision, and the vision's flight
Was followed by the cheerful dawn of light
Now was the morn with blushing streaks over-
spread,
And all the starry fires of heaven were fled ;
The chiefs perplex'd, and fill'd with doubtful care,
To their protector's sumptuous roofs repair :
By genuine signs implore him to express
What seats he deigns to choose, what land to bless :
Scarce their ascending prayers had reach'd the sky ;
Lo, the serpentine god, erected high !
Forerunning hissings his approach confess'd ;
Bright shone his golden scales, and wav'd his lofty
The trembling altar his appearance spoke j [crest.
The marble floor and glittering ceiling shook ;
The doors were rock'd ; the statue seem'd to nod ;
And all the fabric own'd the present god :
His radiant chest he taught aloft to rise,
And round the temple cast his flaming eyes :
Struck was the' astonished crowd ; the holy priest J
(His temples with white bands of ribbon dress'd) C
With reverent awe the power divine confessed ! )
4 The god! the god!' he cries, ' all tongues be still !
Each conscious breast devoutest ardour fill 1
■t^i.
204 brio's metamorphoses. Book 15.
•
O beauteous ! O divine ! assist our cares.
And be propitious to thy votaries prayers !*
All with consenting hearts and pious fear
The words repeat, the deity revere :
The Romans in their holy* worship join'd,
With silent awe and parity of mind :
Gracious to them, his crest is seen to nod,
And, as an earnest of his care, the god,
Thrice hissing, vibrates thrice his forked tongue,
And now the smooth descent he glides along :
Still on the ancient seats he bends his eyes,
I n which his statue breathes, his altars rise ;
His long-lov*d shrine with kind concern he leaves,
And to forsake the* accustom* d mansion grieves ;
At length his sweeping bulk in state is borne
Through the throng*d streets, wbichscatter'dflowets
adorn;
Through many a fold he winds his maay course,
And gains the port and moles which break the
ocean's force.
Twas here he made a stand, and having view*d
The pious train, who his last steps pursued,
Seem* d to dismiss their zeal with gracious eyes,
"While gleams of pleasure in his aspect rise.
And now the Latian vessel he ascends ;
Beneath the weighty god the vessel bends :
The Latins on the strand great Jove appease,
Their cables loose, and plough the yielding seas :
The higb-rear*d serpent from the stern displays
His gorgeous form, and the blue deep surveys ;
The ship is wafted on with gentle gales,
And o'er the calm Ionian smoothly sails ;
On the sixth morn the* Italian coast they fiam.
And touch iAcinia, grac'd with Juno's fine :
Book 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. 20$
Now fair Calabria to the sight is lost.
And all the cities on her fruitful coast :
They pass at length the rough Sicilian shore,
The Brutian soil, rich with metallic ore,
The famous isles where JEolut was king,
And Psestus, blooming with eternal spring.
Minerva's cape they leave, and Caprese's isle,
Campania, on whose hills the vineyards smile;#
The city, which Alcides' spoils adorn,
Naples, for soft delight and pleasure born ;
Fair Stabiae, with Cmnean sybils' seats,
And Baia*s tepid baths, and green retreats :
Littternum next they reach, where balmy gums
Distil from mastic trees, and spread perfumes :
Cajeta, from the nurse so nam'd, for whom
With pious care JEneas nuVd a tomb. [sands ;
Vulturne, whose whirlpools suck the numerous
And Trachas, and Minturnae's marshy lands,
And Formia's coast is left, and Circe's plain,
Which yet remembers her enchanting reign ;
To Antium last his course the pilot guides :
Here, while the anchored vessel safely rides,
(For now the ruffled deep portends a storm)
The spiry god unfolds his spheric form,
Through large indentings draws his fabric train,
And seeks the refuge of Apollo's lane ;
The fane is situate on the yellow shore : —
When the sea smil'd, and the winds rag*d no more,
He leaves his father's hospitable lands,
And furrows, with his rattling scales, the sands
Along the coast; at length the ship regains,
And sails to Tibur, and Lavinium's plains.
Here mingling crowds to meet their patron came,
Evil the chaste guardians of the Vestal flame,
S06 craft XRAXOKFHOSES. Bmk 15-
From every port tsnaaitaons they lepasr,
ftnd jojrfal in hmitiomi rrnrt ftir lir
Along the Howery hanks, oa either side,
Where the tall drip float* oa the sweffing tide,
Dispos'd hi decent order stars rise ;
Aad eraekhag meease, at it mounts the skies,
The air with sweets refreshes ; while the knife,
*wjprai with the victim's blood, lets oat the stream*
mg fife. [now ;
The world's great mistress, Rome, receives him
Oa the mast's top ree&rid he waves his brow,
Aad from that height surveys the great abodes
Aad mansions, worthy of residing gods.
The land a narrow neck, itself extends,
Bound with bis course the stream dhrided beads ;
The stream's two arms, on either side, are seen
Stretdro1 oat in equal length ; the land between.
The isle, so calTd, from hence derives its name :
Twa* here toe salutary serpent came ;
H or sooner bat be left the Latian pine,
But be assumes again Ins form divine ;
And now no more the drooping city mourns,
Joy is again restored, and health returns.
THE DEIFICATIOR OF JULIUS CjSSAR.
Bat ASscalapius was a foreign pow'r;
In his own city Caesar we adore :
Him arms and arts alike renown'd beheld,
In peace conspicuous, dreadful in the field;
His rapid conqnests, and swift-nmsh'd wars,
The hero justly fix'd among the stars >
Yet is his progeny his greatest fame :
The son immortal makes the father's name.
-■ —
hook 15. OVID'l MET AMORFH 0111. 207
The ma-gin Britain, by his courage tam'd,
For their high rocky cliffs and fierceness fund ;
His dreadful navies, which victorious rode
O'er Nile's sffiigh ted waves indspven-sonrc'dflood:
Noicidia, and the spacious realms regain'd ;
Where Ciny phis or flows, or Jnba reign'd :
The powers of titled Mithridates broke,
And Pontna added to the Roman joke;
Triumphal shows decreed, for conquests w
For conquests, which the triumphs still oui
These are great deeds ; yet less than to have giv'n
The world a lord, in whom, propitious heaven I
When you decreed the sovereign rale to place,
Yon bless'd with lavish bounty human race.
Now, lest so great a prince might seem to rise
Of mortal stem, bis sire must reach the skies :
The beauteous goddess, that jEneas bore.
Foresaw it, and foreseeing did deplore ;
For well she knew her hero's fate was nigh,
Devoted by conspiring arms to die.
Trembling and pale, to every god she cried,
' Behold, what deep and subtle arts are tried
To end the last, the only branch that springs
From my liilna, and the Dardan kings!
How bent they are, how desperate to destroy
All that is left me of nnbappy Troy !
Am I alone by fate ordain'd to know
Uninterrupted care, and endless woe ?
Now from Tydides' spear I feel the wound ;
Now Ilium's towers the hostile fksBMsnrronnd)
Troy laid in droit, my easTd son I mount,
Through angry seas and raging billows borne;
O'er the wide deep his wandering course b* bends;
Now to the sullen shades of Styx desceadi ;
oriirt MgTAMOftMinm. As* 15.
Wins Tmmm drrVa at tart fierce wars to wage.
Or talker with wspftyiag Jaaw%
Bmt why rteord I mow wty amde
lease of part ilk hi present feats I
Ob aw their points the isapioas daggers throw ;
Forbid it, gods! repel the dbcralbkm:
V by eurs'd weapon* Nasna's priest expires,
31a longer abaft ye haw, ye vestal fire*/
While such compjatmngs Cyprhrs grief ditch**,
In each eeiertial breart compassion roie.
Mot gods can alter fate's resistless win ;
Yet they foretold by signs the* approaching flL
Dreadful were heard, among the clouds, alarm*
Of echoing trumpets and of clashing anas ;
The son's pale image gave to feint a light,
That the sad earth was almost veiTd in night ;
The Other's fece with fiery meteors gtow*d,
With storms of bail were mingled drops of blood;
A dusky hoe the morning star oVrspread,
And the moon's orb was statn'd with spots of red ;
I n every place portentous shrieks were beard,
The fetal warnings of the* infernal bird ;
In every place the marble melts to tears ;
While in the groves, rever'd through length of years,
Boding and awful sounds the ear invade,
And solemn music warbles through the shade ;
No victim can atone the impious age,
No sacrifice the wrathful gods assuage ;
Dire wars and civil fury threat the state,
And every omen points out Caesar's fate ;
Around each ballow'd shrine, and sacred dome,
Night-bowling dogs disturb the peaceful gloom ;
Their silent seats the wandering shades forsake,
And fearful tremblings the rock'd city shake.
Book 15. OVID'f METAMORPHOSES. 909
Yet could not by these prodigies be broke
The plotted charm, or stay'd the fatal stroke ;
Their swords the* assassins in the temple draw;
Their murdering hands nor gods nor temples awe;
This sacred place their bloody weapons stain,
And virtue falls, before the altar slain.
Twas now fair Cypria, with her woes oppressed,
In raging anguish smote her heavenly breast ;
Wild with distracting fears, the goddess tried
Her hero in the* ethereal cloud to hide;
The cloud which youthful Paris did conceal,
When Menelaus urg'd the threatening steel ;
The cloud, which once deceiv'd Tydides' sight,
And sav'd Eneas in the* unequal fight.
When Jove — ' In vain, fair daughter, you essay
To o'er-rule destiny's unconquer'd sway :
Your doubts to banish, enter Fate's abode,
A privilege to heavenly powers allow'd ;
There shall you see the records grav'd, in length,
On iron and solid brass, with mighty strength;
Which heaven's and earth's concussion shall endure,
Maugre all shocks, eternal and secure :
There, on perennial adamant design'd,
The various fortunes of your race youll find :
Well I have mark'd 'em, and will now relate
To thee the settled laws of future fate.
He, goddess, for whose death the fates you blame,
Has finished his determin'd course with fame :
To thee 'tis given, at length, that he shall shine
Among the gods, and grace the worshiped shrine;
His son to all his greatness shall be heir,
And worthily succeed to empire's care:
Ourself will lead his wars, reseJv'd to aid
The brave avenger of his father's shade.
910 OTlrt MBTAMOEPHOltl. Btsfc 1& I b
To Mm its freedom Mutina shall owe, 1 fo
And Deems his auspicious coudnct know; I h
His dreadful powers shall shake Pharsalia's plaia, |M
And drench in gore PhiKpprs fields again : \ k
A mighty leader, in Sicilians flood,
Great Pompey's warlike son, shall be sobdned:
Egypt's soft qneen, adorn'd with ratal charms,
Shall mourn her soldiers* onsuccessfhl arms :
Too late shall find her swelling hopes were vain,
And know, that Home o'er Memphis still most reign 1
What name I Afric, or Nile's hidden head ?
For as both oceans roll his power shall spread :
All the known earth to him shall homage pay,
And the seas own his universal sway.
When cruel war no more disturbs mankind,
To civil studies shall he bend his mind, '
With equal justice guardian laws ordain,
And by his great example vice restrain :
Where will his bounty or his goodness end?
To times unborn his generous views extend ;
The virtues of his heir our praise engage,
And promise blessings to the coming age :
Late shall he in his kindred orbs be placed,
•With Pylian years and crowded honours grae'd.
Meantime, your hero's fleeting spirit bear,
Fresh from his wounds, and change it to a star :
So shall great Julius rites divine assume.
And from the skies eternal smile on Rome.'
This spoke ; the goddess to the senate flew;
Where, her fair form conceal* d from mortal view,
Her Caesar's heavenly part she made her care,
Nor left the recent soul to waste to air;
But bore it upwards to its native skies :
Glowing with new-born fires she saw it rise ;
Bo0k 15. OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. %\\
Forth springing from her bosom up it flew.
And, kindling as it soarti, a comet grew :
Above the lunar sphere it took its Sight,
4nd shot behind it a long trail of light
THE REIGN OF AUGUSTUS, IN WHICH OVID
FLOURISHED.
Thus rais'd, bis glorious odspring Julius view*d,
Beneficently great, and scattering good;
Deeds, that his own fturpass'd, with joy beheld,
And his large heart dilates to be excelPd. .
What though this prince refuses to receive
The preference which his juster subjects give;
Fame uncontroll'd, that no restraint obeys,
The homage, shun'd by modest virtue, pays ;
And proves disloyal only in his praise.
Though great his sire, him greater we proclaim ;
So Atreus yields to Agamemnon's fame :
Achilles so superior honours won,
And Peleus must submit to Peleus' son.
Examples yet more noble to disclose,
So Saturn was eclips'd, when Jove to empire rose;
Jove rules the heavens, the earth Augustus sways
Each claims a monarch's and a father's praise.
Celestials ! who for Rome your cares employ !
Ye gods! who guarded the remains of Troy;
Ye native gods! here born, and fix'd by Fate ;
Quirinus, grander of the Roman state;
O parent Mars ! from whom Quirinus sprung ;
Chaste Vesta! Caesar's household gods among
Most sacred held ; domestic Phoebus! thou,
To whom with Vesta chaste alike we bow;
Great guardian of the high Tarpeian rock ;
And all ye powers, whom poets may invoke;
fit OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. B—k 15.
O grant, that day may claim our sorrows late,
When lov'd Augustus shall submit to fate,
Visit those seats where gods and heroes dwell ;
And leave in tears the world he rul'd so well !
THE POET CONCLUDES.
* The work is finished, which nor dreads the rage
Of tempests, fire, or war, or wasting age ;
Come, soon or late, death's undetermiu'd day,
This mortal being only can decay ;
My nobler part, my fame, shall reach the skies,
And to late times with blooming honours rise.
Whate'er the' unbounded Roman power obeys,
All climes and nations shall record my praise ;
If 'tis allow'd to poets to divine,
One half of round eternity is mine.
FINIS.
Whittingham and Rowland, Printers, Goawell Street, Londoi
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